Invader of the Tardis
by Heatherisfire
Summary: A mysterious child one day appears in the Doctor's Tardis. She claims that the Doctor is her father but otherwise doesn't speak. Along with her impossible existance, she resurfaces many old issues. Ponds still here, but for the Clara fans who wait, you won't be dissapointed! Reviews much appreciated. S Hint of AU.
1. A Little Surprise

There was a magic time traveling box called the Tardis. In this magic box, there were three people, one alien called the Doctor, his two human companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams … and a little girl.

"Doctor," chimed Amy.

"_Just_ one second, Pond," replied the Time Lord, busy tinkering with doodads and thingamajigs on his magic box.

"No, Doctor, there's someone –a little girl, actually –in the Tardis."

"That's highly impossible; no one can just _get _in my Tardis."

Rory, who had come to investigate what the Doctor was doing peered over the balcony and saw his wife standing across a small child of curly brown hair. "No, there _is _someone there, unless both mine and Amy's eyes are both deceived."

"It's _quite _possible," replied the Doctor,"It's called hallucination, sometimes stress related. Either that or you could be developing schizophrenia … rather a depressing situation, _but _completely human. Amy Pond and Rory Williams, I am sure you are human… unless you are some form of being that has managed to fool even the most advanced of alien technology. In which case –hello new race! –"

"Daddy," trilled a high soprano voice that belonged not to the Doctor, Rory or Amy. The Doctor jumped.


	2. And The Child Stared

"_Daddy!_ Well, that's a new one; I've never been called _that_ before." The Doctor got up and strutted over to where Rory was standing. "Whatcha doing in my Tardis, eh?" he asked the girl.

She stared up at him solemnly. "Daddy," she answered simply.

Amy pouted and stuck out her hand to the girl. "Hullo. Amy Pond … and you are…?" The child dropped her gaze to stare at Amy. She just stared; nothing more, nothing less. "O-_Kay _... you don't do handshakes, I got that. Well anyways, I'm Amy or Pond if you prefer. Do you see that man over there, that's my husband, Rory Williams and the man besides him … well I'm not sure he's a man, he's not exactly human, but anyways –that's the Doctor."

"Hi," Rory noted and waved.

"Hullo there," chirped the Doctor.

Walking down the winding stairs over to Amy, the Doctor spoke, "What's your name?" He waited while the girl stayed silent. "Who are _you_?" he repeated, with the same outcome. "Not speaking? _Can_ you talk?" The girl nodded. "Are you still not speaking?" She stared." Who are you? Nothing? Okay then, if you will not tell us who you are, than I must ask: What are you? Are you human?" Amy slapped him. "Ouch! Pond! I was just curious. How did she get in my Tardis for example? No one can get in the Tardis. Except me of course and those I let in. You and Rory, I let you in. Do you think she snuck in? Do you think that she's one of those invisible races that you just can't see? No, but the Tardis would detect that? She can't be human. I didn't see her before. You aren't human are you? What are you?"

"Don't be so rude!" snapped Amy, but the girl had no reaction at all. "See, she's indifferent, Pond, nothing to worry about! She could be a robot. _Are _you working for the Dalek? No, that's impossible. The Dalek terminate any inferior life-form; unless you _are _a new form of Dalek! But then _how _did you get in my Tardis? Are you a Dalek from the future? A cleverer design maybe? You're definitely a better model than the old upside-down garbage cans. Like cockroaches, those things. You just can't get rid of them. "

"_Doctor! _Don't be so cold!" she chided.

"It's quite fine, Pond! She doesn't care, see?" He motioned towards the girl who was just standing and staring. "I know what you are! You're the host to that parasite onboard the Midnight Express! Not the same one at least, that host died. One of the same species, I presume. Now how did you get to infest a human? _No _you aren't copying me. Rory, do me a favor and say something. _No, _that's not what she is. Could be just a brain-damaged child, but how did you get in here?"

"Rory! Help me out here," Amy called to her husband. Why the Doctor was being so rude was beyond her. "You don't just _say _things like that. Haven't you learned your manners yet, you big pompous Time Lord?"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. You love me and you know it. No offense Rory, meant that in the _friendliest_ of terms."

"Don't be a prick, Doctor," responded Rory.

"I said I didn't mean it like that." 

"I'm talking about the _girl_, Doctor!" Said Rory, "You can't just go around calling people brain damaged, regardless if they respond or not. Or their race, it's not just human etiquette to not to call people inadequate and insult them. Ask politely, maybe she'll respond."

The Doctor turned around, drew a deep breath, turned back around and countered with the sarcastically polite air of someone forced to repeat the same thing over and over and over again. This was not far from the truth. "Who are you?" he asked the girl.

Silence.

"Okay fine, then," the Doctor snapped at her, "you can have it your way." He spun to face Amy, "Pond, you stay here and watch her; I'm bringing you two home. You and Rory." He then began to walk back up the stairs.

"What! _Doctor!_" complained Rory. He was enjoying the trip on the Tardis and really didn't want to go.

"Daddy,"

The Doctor froze for a split second and then spun on his heel. "Please stop calling me that. It makes me _quite _uncomfortable." He continued his ascent up the stairs, irritated. "Daddy,"

"Stop it. Is that the only world you know? I _will _throw you out of a moving Tardis. Caught in the threads of time, how'd you feel about that? Oh _please_ stop staring. What do you _want!_?"

She stared monotonously, simply, inexorably it seemed. The Doctor stared right back into the twin set of piercing blue eyes. He stared until his eyes started watering and then he blinked. The Doctor was infuriated. He almost screamed –the centuries of patience failing him –but he spun and aimed a kick at the wall instead to muffle the sound.

"Well … Doctor," Amy's voice retorted, annoyingly sympathetic, "how old are you now?" he took a deep breath to calm himself and responded airily. "Nine-hundred eighty-five" Amy looked up at Rory who shifted his gaze over to the Doctor.

"How's River, Doctor?" Rory asked.

The Doctor coughed at their inference. "Pond! Rory!" he exclaimed, flabbergasted. "And you should lecture me about being rude. Lest time I checked, which is, oh every 100 years or so of your time, accusing a man of that is considered _extremely_ rude. I might come to expect it from Amelia, but _you _Rory. What kind of dreaming are you doing you dirty twisted mind. You can't think of me that way anymore, I am your son-in-law… and as your wife points out, I am your elder too. Respect your elders, Rory Williams; you _should_ know that by now."

"And _speaking_ of manners, it is considered common kindness to reply when spoken too. _N'est__ pas?_" The Doctor rounded on the silent child. "It's French, _lovely_ language. One of my favorite of Earth's many languages. That and Baby, _very_ lovely, however a bit primitive, but that adds to it, does it not? How natural it is?"

"You're getting off topic." Amy reminded him. "Child. Daddy. You. Remember?"

"Thank you for reminding me Pond. Yes, I wish she would not call me that, rather unnerving … However, back to my point; that girl is _not _my daughter. I ought to know, you'd think. But, if I were to be as bold as to say, I haven't seen River since she _murdered_ me. _Women._ Besides, what would the Universe _do_ with another Time Lord? You've got me. River, too, when she's out of prison."

"Doctor, you and your Tardis travel through time, think it through! Wouldn't that make _her _a Time Lord? As genes continue on through families, and all; how else would she get in the Tardis?" Rory reasoned. He turned to face his alien friend with a firm but kind resolve. He and Amy knew well the grief of losing a child. He would not let the Doctor give up such a great opportunity that was yanked out of his very hands. "You're getting the opportunity to be a father, Doctor! Think about it. Don't you ever get _lonely?_ You did such a good job watching over Amelia, wouldn't it be nice?"

"No. It would _not _be nice. I bring companions, friends, you, Amy, Donna, Rose, and etcetera. That's all the company I need."

"What about family?" Amy asked.

"I've River, Pond. River and the Tardis, that's all the family I need. Besides, you are technically my mother and father-in-law."

"Daddy …" came the small soprano voice.

"_Shut up!_" The Doctor exploded.

" … Doctor …"

"Yes, Rory,"

"There's a simple way to solve this." Rory looked down, trying to mask both his fury at the Doctor's flat-out denial of the child that wished to be his and the excitement in the ability to prove the Doctor wrong.

"And that is …?"

"There must be a D.N.A. test somewhere in this magic box, hmm? If there was something that could tell whether or not I was pregnant, than there should be a D.N.A. test." Amy finished for Rory.

"Ah! Deoxyribonucleic Acid! Brilliant you two! You deserve a gold star each!" The Doctor went to fiddle with some knobs and buttons on the Tardis with the manic glint in his eyes that only comes when an idea comes to him. "Come here you! Yeah, you, short one!" Here came his chance to prove to his companions that he was in the right. What only a simple test could show.

The girl glided gracefully, a ghost across the floor, and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Go on," said Amy, maternally. The child hesitantly took the first step up the stairs and then the next, and the next until she was at the top of the stairs, where Rory held out his hand to lead her. Regardless to say, she did not take it, but she did walk over to the Doctor, who was standing besides the readied D.N.A. test, smiling.

He stretched out his arms to lift her onto the seat but stopped himself. "May I?" He asked with a feigned courtesy. She stared. "I'll take that as a _yes_." He picked her up and placed her roughly on the seat. He picked up a needle, "Ready? One, Two, Three," the syringe quickly filled with the child's blood.

"At least it's red," commented Rory sarcastically.

"I wish it were purple, honestly"

The Doctor emptied the syringe onto a slide the Tardis provided and pushed it back in. He cleaned the girl's arm and bandaged it. "There, the test should be done in an hour."

_A bell chimed in the Tardis, making everyone except the girl jump. The Doctor stood up, stretched and yawned._"Oh, that was only 45 minutes, my mistake! You _are_ a clever little time-traveling box, aren't you? You decided to try me in a little race and you won. Oh, must you go flaunting your talents? Not a nice thing to do, bragging. But I guess that's quite alright, you've helped save the Universe a great number of times. If that's not worth an award, I don't know what is." He stared adoringly at the Tardis, almost flirtingly.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Doctor, do stop romancing your magic box, won't you please?"

"Must I?" He retorted.

"Yes!" came a male voice.

"Thank you Rory." Amy said, matter-of-factly. The Doctor grumbled something along the lines of "my Tardis. What should you care…" and sidled over to the other side of the room.

"Tardis, pull up D.N.A. results." He commanded. Amy and Rory followed and the three adults filed around the screen and waited for the screen to load. When it was done they gaped. The image of the D.N.A. strands was 75% Time Lord.

"Of course that could be just a pure coincidence!" The Doctor said. "She _could _be a Time Lord in the making. As in, she came before my time. Not fully finished, not at my race's full potency. She _could_ be a Ganger. Now, why didn't I think of that _before_?" He swung his arms animatedly and turned to face Rory to his left.

"Now, look, Doctor. Seventy-five percent. You are one-hundred percent and River's fifty. Condense that, what do you get? Be realistic," responded Rory.

"And this is your personal D.N.A. And then the other unregistered half. That's the half which I would prefer to think of as River's genes. This is your child, regardless, Doctor. It's inescapable." Amy pointed.

"Daddy," the un-named girl said as if in response. It seemed she knew what was going on, she stared the Doctor straight in the eyes, but she did it with no sign of emotion at all. "Daddy …?"

Amy, Rory and the Doctor turned to look at the child who just stared.


	3. The Doctor's Wife

The Doctor was furious. "_Where_ do you live?" he asked the child, who just sat and stared. The Doctor pivoted heatedly to face Amy, "Pond! I'm taking you and Rory home _now_. Watch her. I don't _care_ whatever you do to her, just _watch_ her. I –I need to leave."

He didn't wait for her to respond before charging over to the device which controlled which point in time they were heading for. In his anger he got the date wrong, as Amy pointed out.

"Doctor, I wasn't even _born _in 1977. You're a tad early."

"Twenty-eleven, Doctor," commented Rory.

"I knew that."

"Where are you going? You won't be able to find River."

"I'm the Doctor, of course I can."

Seconds later the Tardis came to a stop on a small industrial street in England. The Doctor opened the door and Rory, Amy and the child began to file out. "Hold on," he stopped them, "Bye, Rory." He shook Rory's hand. "_Good_bye Pond. Permission?" Rory nodded and the Doctor hugged Amy. He ignored the girl.

Professor River Song sat on her musty bed inside her damp jail-cell. She was reading her diary. The entry she was re-reading was the one where she had first met the Doctor. The entry told of the time which had landed her in jail. _"Doctor confused. Doctor: not getting this. Doctor very confused … You never said I was _hot_?" _ The Doctor, _her _Doctor.

As a tear began to roll down her cheek, River pulled her dingy blanket close to her chest and hugged it. Before she knew it she had begun to sob; the inhabitants of the cells surrounding her began to get rowdy. "Oh, shut up." That was River's favorite saying, so it would seem.

She recalled with a terrible gut-wrenching feeling of when she had last seen the Doctor. _"Goodbye River," said the Doctor walking away to his Tardis. "What, that's it?" she called after him, teasing him. "Have I _forgotten_ something?"_

_He was flirting back, River was sure of it. She was certain with the way he walked over to her: arms wide in mock misunderstanding and that attractive bounce in his step._

_"Oh, shut up." River said from inside her cell.  
><em>

_ Her hands found the back of his head and she kissed him, hard. But this time, it didn't feel right. She put her arms around his waist, trying to convince herself that her imagination was playing nasty games with her, but when they broke apart the Doctor just gawked at her in shock._

"_Right …" he scratched his cheek with his right hand. "… Interesting …"_

_River's heart dropped. "What's wrong? You're acting like we've never done this before," she looked deep into his blue eyes while trying to conceal her hurt._

_"We haven't …"_

_She stood, and stared._

_"Right," repeated the Doctor, walking backwards to his Tardis. "That was interesting. Good, that was good … unexpected …" He swiveled to open the door put stopped to look at her. "Well, you know what they say. There's a first time for everything."_

_She watched him disappear and then quietly said to herself "and a last …"_

Back in reality, River shook her head from staring at the spot where she had last seen the Tardis. For now, she gave up waiting for her hero and let a disturbed sleep take her.

"River? _River?_"

River Song threw the blanket over her head. Her dreams were messing with reality. She would not allow her wishing to break her heart again. She curled up tighter in a ball and shivered under the damp blanket.

"River, wake up! It's me." Her favorite voice called, and although she knew it would not be beneficial to her at all, even though she knew the Doctor was just a figment of her imagination, she obeyed. But he was right there, in solid flesh, his hands wrapped around the bars of her cell.

"Doctor," she choked. She reached out for him, to make sure he was real. His large hands rapped around her smaller, more feminine ones. His skin was real; the heat coming from it was real. The Doctor was genuine and right there.

He took his right hand away and stuck it in his jacket, pulling out his sonic screwdriver while doing so. He smiled. He pointed the screwdriver at the lock and it busted off. He picked up the lock and put it in the same pocket that he put his screwdriver and then walked in the door of River's cell.

River watched the Doctor walk over to her bedside and sit down. She watched him spread his arms wide to her and she watched him smile lovingly at her. She curled into his arms and hugged him back, savouring every second of this embrace. They stayed like this, silent for maybe half an hour even. River really appreciated him suppressing his talkative, eccentric tendencies just to comfort her. She would have gladly died in that moment.

But when they pulled apart, River noticed the deep sadness in his old eyes. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"How long have you known me now, River?"

"Two-hundred … Two-hundred thirty _seven _years, I think." She sat back, "why?"

"Can I see your diary?" he took out his. River took hers out from her pillow and handed it to him, watching intently. He flipped to the newest entry and read it. River looked away as she began to tear-up. "_Have I forgotten something?" "Oh, shut up." "… Interesting …" "…There's a first time for everything." "And a last." _

The Doctor's mouth formed an "O". He looked away feverishly, "… sorry about that …" River smiled bleakly as to tell him all was forgiven.

"Actually … I need your help …"

"What do you want, Doctor?"

"It's kind of … embarrassing …"

"_What?_"

"We haven't, umm … You aren't a … How do you feel about … umm … kids …?" The Doctor blushed a deep shade of maroon. River coughed and did a double take. "Pardon me?" He didn't just say what she thought he did, did he? Well, he had, but River just wanted to make sure.

"_What_ did you say?"

"Kids. Umm, let me see your diary again?" he smiled a nerdy smile and River began to blush. 

"No you may not!" She said, holding the blue book out of his reach. He grabbed for it but River put it behind her back.

"But did we –"

"No!"

"Would you like to?"

"Oh. My. Goodness. Doctor!"

"_Not_ what I meant!"

"Than, what did you mean?"

The Doctor stood up and walked over to the cell wall. He leaned on it somewhat guiltily. "There's a kid. Or rather, there was a kid. She was silent, odd, _frightening_. Frightening little child she was. And she was in my Tardis. I don't know how she got in there. But she was. She didn't talk at all, except for, y'no … she called me _Daddy_," he said with disgust.

River laughed.

"It's _not_ funny! She's creepy." he argued.

"You're scared of a child who can't talk? Doctor, you battle monsters 24/7 and you're scared of a little girl?"

"She got in my Tardis!" He exclaimed. River giggled. "Listen to me! She got in my Tardis, undetected. That's impossible! She didn't come in with Amy and Rory. She was just, there! I was taking them back from … I can't remember –and she was just there, in the middle of traveling! Impossible, again! You can't just do that!

She started calling me Daddy, but either than that she wouldn't talk. I asked her to stop and she wouldn't. I'm _convinced _she's not my daughter, but Amy and Rory are convinced she _is_. I knew she wasn't so I agreed with Rory to test her D.N.A. out … But she's half flipping me! She's 75% Time Lord. Just as you're fifty and I'm one-hundred."

River smiled as she envisioned a tiny child in her arms, giving off significant heat for such a small mass. The child, though barely old enough to walk, had fine curly hair of a dirty-blonde, light brown colour. Her eyes, vast and endless blue skies like the Doctor's staring the innocence of a child yet the knowledge of a hundred years. She was fair, very fair like her father, but beautiful. In River's fantasy, the child rapped her tiny hands around River's forefinger while the Doctor sat behind her and smiled contently. _But this could never happen._ That's what the Doctor was telling her.

"Doctor, I don't know whether she's yours or not. But she obviously wants you. Whatever it is that she wants, shouldn't you try to find out?"

"She won't _talk_, River! How am I supposed to know?" He threw his hands up dramatically as he shouted this and the rest of the block got rowdy again. River banged on the walls, "Shut up!"

"I'm sending her back where she came from. I wouldn't help her."

There was a subtle beeping and the Doctor pulled a hand-held electronic tablet from his coat. He put it in front of him and read it.

"I wouldn't help her if her life depended on it. Maybe just, but I don't trust her. I don't trust her at all." He added with a grimace.

River snatched the tablet out of his hands. "_What_ does this say? That's her isn't it?" _Daddy! Help! Help me, Daddy! _River threw it back at him in absolute repulsion catching him square in the nose. "I hope I broke it. Your nose I mean."

The Doctor rubbed his nose. "I think you might've."

"Good. Now go. Help. Her."

"No!" The tablet beeped again. _Daddy! Help!_

"If she was Amelia Pond you wouldn't hesitate!"

"_Amelia _didn't break into my Tardis!"

"All about your stupid Tardis isn't it? Never about people any more …"

Then the Doctor's nose started bleeding. It was a great thick stream of red out of his right nostril. "Great. That is _just _great, thanks River."

"Stop being so damn emotional and go and help her, already!" The tablet beeped another message. "Go! Now! Goodbye Doctor!" River got up, handed him his tablet and started shoving him out of her cell. He wiped the blood from his nose on his sleeve and turned to face her, holding onto the cell door.

"Goodbye, River." _"Goodbye, River."_ The Doctor reached his hands around her head. River's heart sped up. He was intoxicatingly close. She could feel his breath on her lips and it tasted sweet. She lifted her arms to pull him close to her—.

"No, Doctor!" River protested, recalling the events of last time she kissed him and shoving him away.

"I remember you this time," he remarked flirtingly.

River paused and stopped to think about it, and then she placed her hands around his waist. The Doctor acknowledged the permission and re-placed his hands in her hair. He pulled her close –and then his tablet beeped again.

Shoving him away for the second time, River whispered quietly, "Go. Go for me."

Back in the Tardis, the Doctor set the course back to Amy and Rory's house a little after he had dropped them off. He was light-headed and his nose stung, but he was determined. He would kick himself later for letting his heroic side take lead, but he was going to do it.

The Doctor tried to imagine what could be so urgent. It was so seldom any message reached his tablet that these monsters or aliens were always fatal to the caller. _Always._ Despite what he had said to River and even though he hated the child with every last fiber of his being, he would not let any child die for selfish measures. He was a selfish man and he was well aware of it. He would only try to save her for himself and because River told him to. If he didn't save her, the Doctor would have to live with it on his conscious for a very long time and he was not prepared to deal with it. Not prepared to deal with 200 years of guilt. He didn't like the feeling; it ate at him from his hearts. Having two hearts made for a particularly nasty guilt trip. He knew so only too well.

When the Tardis had pulled up in Amy and Rory's back-yard he knocked on the door. Rory came to answer, rage written all over his face. "Hullo to you too," commented the Doctor, wittily. "Get in here, now."

He walked into the house and followed Rory to the living-room. "I hope your happy, you sick, sick, _twisted_ man," Rory spat. What the Doctor saw then made his stomach churn. There went his plans for avoiding the guilt trip.

Staring scornfully and at the Doctor, Amy was kneeled next to the child who was heaving on all fours, looking like a mess. The child looked vulnerably thin and weak. She was shaking all over and her pale skin had taken on a slightly green tinge. She looked like she was about to vomit.

However, what had knocked the Doctor breathless was the look the child gave her when she turned her head from the ground to him. She was crying, with no tears. Her once monotonous blue eyes were flat no more. They were full of spite, fear, disappointment and torture all at the same time. And they burned right through him.


	4. Feanor

When Rory woke up the next morning and went downstairs into the kitchen he saw the Doctor fast asleep, head on folded arms and his bangs dripping into a cold cup of tea. His anger was stifled in the sight of his friend looking so vulnerable.

Putting the tea on, Rory tried to sit down quietly but ended up jolting the Time Lord to life. The Doctor's hair dripped down into his eyes and he tried to blink it away, to the only effect of getting the sticky tea caught in his eyelashes. "Was I sleeping?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Rory.

"I didn't think I would be able to sleep last night. Guess the tea helped," the Doctor wrung out his hair in the mug and went to drain it down the sink.

"You slept well it seemed."

"I didn't think I'd be able to last night. I was exhausted."

Rory nodded solemnly.

"Rory, you're angry still angry at me about last night, aren't you?" The Doctor massaged his temple.

"Yes, quite," sighed the Doctor's companion. "I was absolutely _furious _yesterday. I'm calmer now, but still... Doctor, how _could_ you? Even if you don't believe that girl is your daughter, how can you leave her alone to suffer for your own vanity? If one would be so selfish, I wouldn't even dream of you, Doctor. When you go to save the universe on a day-to-day basis so selflessly... I don't know ... yeah I'm mad."

"I talked to River," the Doctor defended himself.

"And what did she say?"

"She didn't... I had just finished my story when ... _she_ called. Interrupted us, I was _not_ happy about that."

"My point, Doctor, is how River reacted?"

The Doctor got out of his seat and spun around. "Do you know, Rory if the girl actually _was_ my daughter, you and Amy would be _grandparents_ of a Time Lord? If you _really think about it_ that makes you two _old_. Older than I, even though I've lived well over ten centuries. _But_, if you consider the Pandorica, Rory you have 2000 plus years of memory. What _wibbly wobbly timey wimey_ stuff. "

"Stay on topic, Doctor! How did River react?"

"_Well_..."

Rory flung his hand on the table. "Answer the bloody question!"

The Doctor reacted with as much enthusiasm as Rory and equally as much irritation. "Fine! She was angry! River said she wanted me to help _her_. She practically shoved me away. We _almost_ kissed." He grumbled in agitation.

"Explain, _then _your nose."

"River got angry. She picked my tablet up and threw it at me. Told me she hoped she broke my nose. You think she get's it from Amy?"

Rory sighed and placed his head in his hands. "You ... Really ... Are ... _Impossible_!"

"You just talk to the Daleks." Rory looked up in disbelief.

"Toast?" asked the Doctor. He opened up the Williams' refrigerator and pulled out a bag of bread. He popped two pieces into the slots and went looking for butter. "Actually, I could do with a bigger breakfast, where are your frying pans again, Rory? Ah never mind, I found them." He set himself to work cooking and Rory pulled out his book and began to read.

"'Morning Rory, Doctor." Amy entered the kitchen with her flaming red hair draped over a white nightgown. "Good morning, beautiful," acknowledged Rory, traipsing over to embrace his wife.

"No good morning for me, Doctor?" Amy teased, "Smells good in here, are you making breakfast?"

"Yes I am; and; _good_ morning Pond!"

"What, you're in a good mood now. Now Amy's here, naturally. Never give a care to the bloke who's saved her life as much as you have, eh? _Nah_, I'm just _Pond's husband_, right Doctor?"

"Of _course_ not, I _love_ you, eh Rory? As a _friend_, obviously –but I love you nonetheless."

Rory took his hands of Amy's waist and crossed them on his chest, "Wait –so –let me get this straight. You willingly admit to loving me, but you'll only harass your own flesh and blood, leaving them to suffer? How does that make sense, tell me now.

"Come off it."

"No! _You_ asked _me_ if I were angry at you. You brought it up. I answered your question, don't tell me to '_come off it_'. Sure, if this was some trivial argument, I'd give it no mind. But this is different. You deny your own child and leave her to suffer whatever _hell _she was going through. I can't just put that aside."

"Amy, would you help me out here?" the Doctor asked her.

"I lost _my_ child due to you. You're on your own. I'm not helping you break another heart. I'm sorry, I'm with Rory." She placed her hands on her hip. "She slept in the guest room. The room you sleep in. She's sleeping in there."

The Doctor snapped. "She's _sleeping_ in my bed!"

"Yeah."

He swore under his breath. The toast popped and the fire alarm went off to the burning eggs. "Well! Bet she's not sleeping now!"

* * *

><p>Upstairs, the little girl awoke suddenly straight to the sound of the fire alarm. She sat up straight immediately and gripped the blanket tightly for reassurance. The sound was blaring and frightening to the ears of she who was unfamiliar.<p>

"Oh, shut up!" she heard the man who called himself Rory say. After a few seconds the sound abruptly stopped and she heard stout and quick thudding up the stairs.

The door burst open and the child saw the woman of red hair standing in the doorway, looking somewhat disheveled. The child immediately resorted to her monotonous facade. The woman named Amy walked in and asked her, "Are you okay? Did the fire-alarm wake you?"._ Fire alarm, _the child's mind wandered back to her previous housing, _are they afraid of fire? _"Well, it would do a bit better if you were to answer me... Sorry about that; the Doctor was making breakfast. I guess we distracted him. The eggs started burning."

Seconds later the foreign man burst in behind the redhead.

"Is she alright, Amy?"

She shrugged, "won't talk; same as yesterday."

"Let me try. _Hey sweetie_, did the fire-alarm wake you up?" The child stared. Then she lifted her head to look at the Doctor who was lazily sidling in the door after Amy and Rory. "What did I miss?" he asked.

The girl flinched, hating that she loved the sound of his voice. It was familiar to her in an odd, eerie, nostalgic way. She tried to keep her appearance of indifference, silently praying that they didn't notice her flinch.

As the adults began to argue as they had the night previously, the girl began to scold herself inwardly. _He hates you. You should have known. Who _could_ love you, when you're cursed as you are. _

_But ... he was supposed to help me.  
>He won't help you, he doesn't love you.<br>I don't need to be loved. I just want the curse gone.  
>Don't be selfish and care only for yourself.<br>Aren't fathers supposed to care for their children?  
>That's just a story told to calm the young. No body wants a whiner.<br>What about the redhead and her husband?  
>They're human, that's a different story.<em>

"Well," clapped the Doctor, "I'm going to the Tardis. Have to do a bit of exploring and such. The universe might need a bit of saving. Amy, Rory –I'm not leaving you alone with her. You two are to come with me."

"What, and leave this child by herself?" asked Amy. "_I'm_ not leaving _her_ alone_. She comes, _Doctor." _Thank you._

"Invite the alien into the means to corrupt the very threads of time and space. _Brilliant_ idea, Pond. Oh, you're serious... Must she? "

The redhead's husband nodded. "She. _comes._"

* * *

><p>The Doctor stared at the child in his Tardis, unsure what to think. He hated her, but he felt terrible for her.<em> If she didn't exist, it would be better for the both of us. She wouldn't suffer and nor would I. <em>Evil thoughts flooded the Doctor's mind about how he could give her the slip wherever they were going. He saw himself in the child. He hated that. Even if those eyes were almost always monotonous, they were wise eyes, blue like the ocean's tide. His eyes. Eleven's eyes. When, oh, when would twelve take over?

"Where and when are we going, Doctor?" asked Amy.

"Well, there was this really nice world I heard about. It was all forests, but _extremely_ tall trees. Up to fifty _meters_, some of them. And I heard they were _silver_ too." The child blinked.

"Sounds really lovely Doctor. It actually _exists_, right? It's not just some place you fabricated to lure us into... just to ditch the girl, right?" Rory stepped up behind her defensively.

"No, of course not. I may be selfish, Pond, but I wont do that." _they idea played in his mind, and he entertained it with a guilty pleasure. _"Could hold some merit, though" he mumbled so that Amy and Rory couldn't hear him.

"So, what about it, you two? Place is called _Feanor._ In the language of the race that lived there it translates to 'Abundant Lands'. _Really_ beautiful I heard."

"Wait," Rory interrupted. "_lived_ there? What's with the past tense? What _happened_ to them?" skepticism played on his face.

"I _believe_ they evacuated. Something about a war bringing poisonous gases into the atmosphere. Lost about ninety-five percent of their people to an alien race. Brought most of the survivors into a maniac state, suicidal thoughts, homicidal actions. You wouldn't think that would be able to happen to them. They were such an _advanced_ race too. Had almost a million years to advance their technology (Which was _brilliant_, by the way. They had to be at least a _thousand_ years ahead of you humans, I think). Must of been a really powerful enemy to almost bring them to _extinction_. I've heard rumour that they're still around, too."

Amy and Rory stared, wide eyed with fear. "You're bringing us _there?_ To the planet where this race almost became extinct to an unknown enemy."

"_Of course_ they're known. We've just lost them. No records of them, either."

"So, like the Silence, essentially?"

"No, you remember them. You just can't find them... ever." the Doctor began to walk up the stairs to start the Tardis' journey. He spun around to face his shocked friends. "But it's completely safe. I promise." He finished his ascent and set the Tardis in motion.

Amy walked after him. "What about rule one: the Doctor lies."

"Doctor doesn't lie. Not this time. We're completely safe, Pond. Rory. I assure you."

The Tardis landed under a leafy silver canopy and the Doctor stepped out, allowing Amy and Rory out after him and neglecting the child. Rory, agitatedly held the door open for her and gave the Doctor the finger over her head. Amy rolled her eyes at the Doctor in disgust.

"Well, you wont let me leave her to die. Can't I at least have a little fun?"

Feanor was every bit as beautiful as the Doctor described it as being and the two humans stopped to marvel. A yellow sun shone brightly through trees like sky-scrapers, casting blue shadows through the silver leaves. The trees were nothing like that of Earth's. The trees of Earth looked like a young child's crayon drawing compared to the trees on Feanor and height-wise a flash-light to the Olympic torches in the Olympic buildings. It even sounded more beautiful. Instead of the shrill chirp of birds it was as if someone had managed to combine the flute and the harp into the voice of a bird. When they breathed in, the air was fresher, purer, clearer and sweeter. Earth to Feanor was Dr. Seuss to William Shakespeare or Edgar Allan Poe.

"Quite impressive!" remarked the Doctor. "I don't know why they'd want to leave. I could live here!"

Amy, Rory, the child and the Doctor walked in simultaneous silence and marvel until they came to a clearing. The sun shone brightly down on the white sanded ground. Amy bent down to touch it, and finding that it had no affect on her she took of her shoes and sighed. "Rory, try this!" He shook his head. "Will you?" Amy asked the child. She stared. Amy shrugged.

"It is safe, right Doctor? There aren't any weird chemicals in this sand, is there?" he bent down and scanned the sand with his Sonic-Screwdriver. "Nope, no weird chemicals.

"It's so beautiful here," said Rory. "You're right; I could live here too."

The Doctor reached up to one of the really small bushes and pulled off a white pear-shaped looking thing. He bit into it and gasped. "Oh, that's good. _Wow_," he grabbed two more and handed them to Amy and Rory. Amy glared at him and handed hers to the child. The Doctor glared back at Amy and unwillingly grabbed another pear for her.

The child stared up at the Doctor with a faint shadow of hurt on her face, but took a small nibble of the pear anyways. The hurt immediately wiped off her face and was replaced by an almost unnoticeable forgiveness, then disappeared to monotony once more.

The Doctor spun away so not to see her. "Well, come along!". The trio of Amy, Rory and the child trailed behind him, Amy and Rory munching their fruit. The little girl had dropped hers in the clearing as they left and very articulately hid in a couple of bushes.

The fresh air was exhilarating. They walked for hours on end and never tired even remotely. "This is amazing," Rory commented. "I feel completely ... _tranquil_ and yet I've walked forever. " Amy nodded. "Are you not enjoying this?" she asked the child. She stared.

"It's almost like the sun has more energy too, it's stayed pretty much the same the whole time. It's still bright out."

"Did you not realize, this planet is _immense_. It's day cycle, therefore, takes longer. There are approximately 36 of Earth's hours in one day on this planet. Much sunnier, much longer." The Doctor explained. "Isn't it just fantastic? That's fifty percent more sunlight in one day! If only you could find a beach, you could stay out all day and go from pasty like now (sorry, no offense) to the colour of chocolate in one day. Mmmm ... I like chocolate. Chocolate is _tasty_!"

The girl made a small sound and pointed up into the canopy above. "Those are what you call trees," mocked the Doctor sarcastically. "What is it, honey?" asked Amy. _Don't talk to her! Just stop it, leave her alone. _The Doctor thought, bitterly. _Are you trying to guilt me? Because I'm already guilty enough as it is. And I'm supposed to help her too._

She pointed and stared; Amy, Rory and the Doctor all looked up and saw only the wind moving through the leaves. She suddenly averted her attention to the left of them and dropped her hands to her side. She stepped backwards and when the bushes began to move she stepped behind the Doctor.

Out of the bushes came two alien creatures of a very tall and thin stature. Both of them were around 6'7". They were about the thickness of the child's waist and you could see the skin stretched over protruding bones. This skin was a semi-transparent silver that matched the environment around them. Each limb seemed exaggeratedly thin and long, so much so that it almost appeared disproportionate.

As they had been bent over in an ape-like state, the first one stood up in perfect posture and looked down at their company. "Salutations," his voice was that of a scientist, as if he were acknowledging a semi-intelligent specimen. "I am Niam of the Fe'aol. My companion is called Nyan."

"_Hello_, there!" piped the Doctor. "I'm the Doctor, these are my friends, Amy and Rory Williams." He felt the small hands on his back and coughed, to tell the child not to touch him.

"We should not be here," commented the second alien, Nyan. "Let us go somewhere less exposed." He looked up, "Now. The trees are not safe."

"Will you follow us?" asked Niam.

Taking a step closer to the Fe'aol, the Doctor beckoned to the trio and they followed him while he followed Niam and Nyan. The child in close range behind him.

"You're stepping on my heels!" the Doctor snapped and halted abruptly. Curious over his sudden outburst, Niam and Nyan looked over their shoulders. "I do not see a fourth with you, Doctor."

"She's right here! Trailing behind me!" he stepped out of the way to reveal the scared child. Her curls swished back as she jolted her head down.

"Why did you not introduce her?" Niam asked with a hint of dull animosity in his voice.

"He's decided to be a prick to her," Rory said.

"She is a child. You should not have brought a child here."

Amy turned to glare at the Doctor, "You said it was safe."

"And I believed it was safe. I _honestly_ had no intentions of hurting her." _That much._

"Right."

"This way," said Nyan, veering to the left._  
><em>


	5. In The Caves

Niam and Nyan lead them to a small isolated cave. It was a very long walk and their pace began to quicken as the slow night began to creep. Quite frequently, the two Fe'aol had to remind each other not to drop to their for-feet and run along the bottom of the trees. The humans and the Doctor were fine with walking (the fruit and the air had done something to them that gave them enough energy to continue on) but the child began to look around more and more worriedly as the sun slowly set.

When they finally stopped, Niam ran his impossibly long had along the wall until it disappeared. He drew his hand out again and turned to face the rest of the group. "In," he said.

Nyan stepped in and disappeared into the rocks. Amy and Rory gaped. The Doctor went next; he walked in and vanished into the wall. Then he stuck his head out and waved to them, smiling his childish smile. "It's really _quite_ roomy in here! Really nice for a cave, too. Believe me, I've been there. _Done_ caves before. You could have a _pizza __party_ in here! Come on, Pond!"

Rory stepped in, followed by Niam. Amy held her hand out in front of herself to allow the child to go next and then went in herself.

When they came in, they realized that they could look out where they came in and saw the world perfectly around them; and the Doctor was right. It was quite spacious, even Niam and Nyan with their long alien legs could lie flat if they had wished to do so. "Sit down, regain your energy." The Doctor sat next to Amy who sat next to Rory. Niam and Nyan sat across the room and the child stood and stared.

"You did that on purpose," Amy said.

"Did what?" asked the Doctor.

She shoved him away. "Come sit, honey." The child came and sat between Amy and the Doctor. Amy looked at her and the child looked back with her big monotonous blue eyes. Amy looked away; the child's flat stare scared her. Not as if the child would hurt her, but because she couldn't understand the lack of emotion. What could make a _child _look like that?

"Night is approaching. They are more active at night." Niam said.

"But we must find the ship. We must return to Fin'ora. The council is waiting on us."

"We shan't find it on our own and we ought not to split up."

"We do have to get back as soon as possible."

"But we cannot leave the humans on this planet alone. Not with the tree-creatures."

Niam bowed his head to his company. "If you will excuse us," he stood up and walked over to the cave entrance. He beckoned to Nyan who came after him. The two started to converse quietly in what seemed to be their native language.

Rory turned to the Doctor, "You honestly didn't know about these ... _tree-creatures_?"

"I swear! I didn't know. I mean, I knew they were here thousands of years ago, but not now."

"Are you saying that _these creatures_ are what nearly wiped the Fe'aol out?"

"I think so..."

"Doctor!" Amy cried in exhasperation.

"Well, they need to get home and we left the Tardis out in the open. I'm going to help them; I could leave you here. All of us left our transportation (so it seems), and we can't stay here forever. _Believe me_, I've tried. Forever is a very long time. You have to get up and _move._

"No Doctor. You're not leaving _her_ here. _I'll_ go. I'll help them, you stay here with the child." Rory said.

Amy stood up and folded her arms, "I'm going with Rory."

The Doctor sat back and _humphed. _He looked at the little girl besides him, "Looks like I'm stuck with you." The four all looked at each other and remained in silence until Niam and Nyan turned around. They ducked their long necks and stepped back through the entrance.

"We have decided to look for our ship," announced Nyan.

"As we are lead to believe, you have also forsaken your method of transportation in the woods. We will help you look, on one condition however."

Rory stood up and stepped besides Amy. "The two of us will help you. The Doctor's decided stay here and watch over the girl."

"Thank you," said Niam. "We greatly appreciate your cooperation. We will help you find your Tardis, as I believe it is, Doctor?"

"How did you know?" he responded sarcastically.

"You are famous amongst my people."

"That was rhetorical."

"I might've gathered so, given your tone. You seem upset."

"It's none of your business."

"He wishes us not to intrude, Niam. Let us leave him to the child."

Nyan walked out the door, Amy and Rory followed and then Niam. The Doctor watched them leave and then went to sit on the opposite side of the room. He pulled out his screwdriver and inspected it to pass the time. The girl wrapped her knees to her chest and stared out the opening. As the Doctor watched her out of the corner of his eye, he was struck by how small and vulnerable her body seemed to be. She was tiny.

He was reminded of the young Amelia. He always felt paternaly over her. His own mother-in-law, _how ironic_. But the child seemed to have the same kind of facade that Amelia had around Amy and Rory. Maybe they just had that effect on children of their own family. But the Doctor was not willing to test it. If she would not talk, neither would he.

* * *

><p>Amy and Rory walked with Niam and Nyan alongside the rock wall. Amy just couldn't work out how such a serene place could be filled with such danger. The air gave her more energy and she just wanted to walk and observe the trees and the slowly setting sun forever. It all was so beautiful she could hardly take it in. She reached out for Rory's hand and they walked in slow unison.<p>

Nyan jumped to his for feet in a split-second reaction. Niam's tall body tensed. "What is it, my friend?". He mumbled something in his mother-tongue and Niam looked up to the trees.

"It is gone," Nyan said matter-of-factly and straightened back up.

Amy tried not to stare and instead looked up to the trees in confusion.

"That was one of the Ren'nok in crude terms. Or one of the tree creatures in a loose translation from the language of my people. They like the night."

"I didn't see anything." Amy commented.

"They are very fast. You're eyes may not be accustomed to seeing things in the twilight at that speed."

"But I didn't hear anything, shouldn't I hear the rustling of the leaves if they're in the trees?"

"Their light-weight gives them that advantage."

Nyan turned around "Are we not looking for our ship? And your Tardis? Cease your talking, we must move as quietly as we can, the Ren'nok have acute hearing."

Amy rolled her eyes quietly to her husband and they walked on into the darkness of the night that had now come.

* * *

><p>The child watched the outside of the night. She knew what was coming and it terrified her. <em>When the blackness takes hold of her. Her skin freezes to ice that slowly creepes it's way into the very core of her twin hearts. Her muscles pound with the frantic beating of her heats untill it seems that she is going to explode. She can't take it any longer. She tries to scream, but no sound comes out. She feels as if she was being stabbed over and over again. Inside and out. She tries to writhe out of the pain but it's all she can feel. Nothing more nothing less. <em>Why can't I just die! _She thinks desperately. She's about to die, she's on the edge of death -but she can't let go. When she's certain this time she _must _die, the pain is too much, it double's and she feel's pathetic. This is no human torture. This is no torture any one had ever felt before. Why wont it end!_

Her eyes had begun to water and she looked over at the man who's supposed to save her. The man who's supposed to love her and she desperately thought, _will you help me this time? _She knew the answer and she knew he hated her. Still, she held on to the dream of them together as father and daughter with a sad glimmer of hope.

She looked back to the night and clutched her knees closer.

* * *

><p>The trees moved up above them in what seemed to be an unnatural way. "They know we are here." Rory nodded. Something flew past him in his peripherals. Something was of a dark-blue silver colour. Something was fast. Something made the hair on his neck stand up.<p>

The Fe'aol crouched in a defensive position as they prepared for the attack of the Ren'nok. Rory reached for his pocket-knife, but Nyan scolded him "With your slow human speed, you wont be able to touch them. Put that thing away. You look ridiculous."

The shadows moved closer and Amy gripped on to him harder. "Rory ..." she whisperd in his ears.

"Yeah?"

"I hope the Doctor's okay. Do you?"

"I'm very angry with him."

"But do you hope he's alright? He loves you, Rory."

"I know. I do hope he's alright. But I'm still angry."

One of the shadows launched itself in-between them and the Fe'aol; and then another and another. Niam turned to face them. "Run." The Ren'nok began to assail themselves at the party furiously. Squeesing his wife's hand, Rory began to sprint and carried her along behind him.

They ran and ran untill they became breathless and then they broke hands. The Ren'nok appeared to have left them alone. Amy looked back. "Are the aliens behind us?" Rory remembered what Nyan had said about their _slow human speed._ "No, Amy. I don't think they are. They would've caught up with us already." She looked back, terrified. "Where are they?"

"They saved us."

"On their_ own _lives_. Rory!_" Her voice was matter-of-factly. As it always got when she was upset and trying to hide her emotion.

He looked around them reached for one of the delicious pear-like fruit they had eaten before from a tall bush around them. "Eat, Amy. We've been here for hours. I can find something more substantial later, but for now ... have one of these. " He handed it to her and reached for another one.

"I'm not hungry," she said, but took it anyways. It was more juicy and sweet than any fruit they had ever had before, but to both her and Rory they could barely taste it.

Rory chewed it in silence and waited for his wife to say something. Neither spoke. But both were perfectly fine with it. Amy was the one to break the silence,"We're looking for the Tardis on our own. Without help. Without the Doctor. Have we ever done this before, Rory?".

He stared at her soft face and saw genuine worry written all over it. "Amy don't you worry, we're going to find the Tardis. Niam and Nyan will be fine. They'll find their ship and we'll all make it home." He swung in front of her and began to play with her red hair. She held his hand against her face. "I'm not worrying," she smiled meakly. "I've got my Rory. All I ever need is my Rory."

"There you go, Amy." He smiled back at her and watched as some of her distress seemed to melt away.

* * *

><p>The child gasped and the Doctor spun his head. He saw her pressing her hand in her other, seeming to try and return circulation to it desperately. "...Daddy...?" she pleaded. The Doctor turned his head away and hung it in shame. "Leave me be," he asked her.<p>

The child let out another gasp, this one more strained. The Doctor flinched and shifted uncomfortably. He only turned again to look at her when she began to sob. She was on the ground on all fours. "...Are you... are you alright...?". She shook her head vigorously and then screamed. It was an ugly scream, the sound you hear when a small child is lost from their mother and a menacing stranger tries to help.

The Doctor got down on his knees beside her and watched solemnly as her body convulsed and writhed. _No...no..._ he thought. _Please, please don't let this on my conscience. _Somewhere in his chest, guilt ripped a big, black empty hole. Rory's anger and the spite of the monotonous girl ate at him. "_Why!_" he slapped his fist against the ground and swore because he had broken skin.

She screamed again, and sobbed heavily. The Doctor placed his head in his hands. He did not want to watch her. He did not want to understand what she felt. He did not want more guilt. Centuries of knowledge be darned, he tried to convince himself that behind the curtains of his hands, the world was perfect. He envisioned River, standing with handcuffs over him. _Always River, always handcuffs._ But then the picture of her changed to when he last went to see her in her cell.

_Holding River close, the Doctor breathed in her scent. He loved being able to see his wife. He lived for the moments when he was able to see her. The thought of her now almost always on his mind. He couldn't love anyone more. Not even Rose. Not even Amelia. __He smiled and pulled River closer._Those were good memories. _He watched anger burn at River as she read the tablet. She retched in revulsion and threw it at his nose. "I hope I broke it,"_. Those were bad memories. He could not escape the prison of his mind.

He uncovered his face and forced himself to look at the tortured girl. She had River's hair. Gingerly, he lowered his hand on to the girl's back. It arched to the Doctor's touch and then convulsed again. This made the Doctor jump. He removed his hand from her back. The child was ice cold.

* * *

><p>The Ren'nok soon began to slowly halt their attack. Getting tired they left the Fe'aol and retreated to the silver canopy above.<p>

The two were readied in warrior poses as an attempt to ward off the tree creatures. Seeing their opponents had left, Niam straightened to an erect stand and surveyed the glittering forest surrounding them. The Fe'aol had not succumbed to it's beauty. He couldn't care less if the place was a graveyard, as long as the air was breathable.

"Na houra tse?" Niam asked his companion in their mother tongue. _Are you alright?_

"Un." Nyan answered as a _yes._ He then wrapped his long fingers over his right calf. "Ska ran'non nyu."_ I will be slow. _" Waren houra net'ta." _I have obtained a minor injury on my leg._

"_Will you be able to walk?" _Niam asked.

"Un. _If we continue at a slower pace. Need I be so redundant_?"

"Gomen." Niam apologized.

"_In which direction did the humans head?"_

"_I am unsure._ _Their tracks have surely been hidden by those of the Ren'nok._"

"_Need we give name to the race that nearly brought our ancestor's demise?_"

Niam ignored him. "_If they were wise they would have headed back to the cave. That is where their leader is._"

Nyan limped over to his companion and stared through the trees. "_Are you suggesting we should head back to the cave?_"

"Un."

* * *

><p>The child had recovered some, so it seemed. But she was in hysterics. The Doctor couldn't tell which was worse. Her torture or the tortured reaction she had from it. She lied on the ground sobbing uncontrollably, as if crying was the only thing she could do. She was extremely shaken.<p>

"Are you alright...?" The Doctor asked, although he knew it was an extremely stupid question.

A new wave of noise rolled over the child. She tried to look up at the Doctor. Her blue eyes were searing with pain and confusion. Although the Doctor only saw her eyes for a split second, the pain of her ripped his hearts in two. _Bloody empathy._ He thought.

She was very pretty, noted the Doctor, save the pale grotesque skin from her torture. But he wouldn't allow himself to think that way. She was still a liar, and her appearance changed nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He got back up, walked over to the closest wall and sat down. Then he heard a noise. The noise that you hear when you walk through the trees.

The noise was a rustling in the bushes. And then the next noise came: Niam and Nyan's monotonous voices. What they were saying was indistinguishable, but the girl looked up at the Doctor in pure fear.

"Please... Please don't let them see me like this..." her voice rang in the Doctor's head, reverberating like someone hitting a triangle. The mere fact that she had spoken something other than 'Daddy" seemed surreal. More unrealistic than the alien setting outside. The Doctor stared, his jaw dropped. Her blue eyes were pleading with him.

"Please...?" she begged, "Dad-" she stopped herself and continued to beg silently.

The Doctor could tell she was terrified. He reacted instinctively. He jumped to his feet and pulled out his screwdriver. "Wait-" he said, "why?"

"I can't ... please?" her voice was still unrealistic. But it was hypnotizing. The Doctor did what he was told.

He walked out of the cave, and looked back to see only the rock facade. He followed the aliens' voice and soon came to discover that they were speaking Fe'aol. He didn't hear the voice of his family. Worried, he ran up to them.

"Niat'ton no human?" he asked. W_here are the humans?_ "Niat'ton no shakai?" _Where are my friends?_

"Ska tse shinnon human." Niam responded. _I thought you had them._

"They aren't with you?" asked the Doctor, resorting back to english.

"_Niam told the humans to run from the tree creatures when they attacked the four of us. We thought they would think to head back to the cave." _Nyan answered back in Fe'aol.

"Their human. They would've just run anywhere if instructed by someone of superiority when frightened. I thought you were supposed to be smart. Basic human psychology, you could probably find a book somewhere."

"_Sorry, we were too busy saving their lives._"

"There we go, sarcasm! That's thinking like a human. There's the first step." He wore an utterly serious expression for such a ridiculous thing to say. Then he smiled.

"So, you came here to look for them?" asked the Doctor.

"Un."

"Right, so are you going to go look for them?"

"_The two of us alone is too dangerous. It is also unsafe for you to leave the child in the cave alone_. _We must wait for the humans to return of their own accord._" The Fe'aol began to walk towards the cave, but the Doctor remembered the little girl's words and stalled them longer.

"So, it's not too dangerous to leave Amy and Rory out on their own, then?" he stepped in front of the tall silver aliens.

"_They may not even still be alive. We ought not to risk it._"

Their flat voices were inflammatory to the Doctor's temper. "They are my family!" he shouted. "_You have our apologies and our condolences._" They said. He swore.

"Your apologies and _condolences_! What kind of rubbish is that?" He pointed into the forest. "You will go. You will look for them. You will find them. And they will be alive." The Fe'aol stared, giving the Doctor a very condescending look that one only gets from someone of extreme intelligence.

"Now." Said the Doctor.

"Are we supposed to be amused, Doctor?" asked Nyan in a very derogative English tone.

"So," asked the Doctor, putting his question to the side as irrelevant "You can just take my friends out into certain danger and just leave them there for your own safety? Do you not realize how extremely self-centered that sounds?"

"_Regardless. If we were to go out and look for them, we might become incapacitated. And if we do, you may lose your way home. You cannot get home without the Tardis, can you Doctor?_"

"No. But if you don't try, we're trapped here. We can't just do _nothing._"

"_We've called for help. More of the Fe'aol should appear soon._"

The Doctor sighed, something at least to be glad about. "How _soon? Enough time to give Amy and Rory a chance?_" he asked in their language.

"_They should be here in one week._"

"That's not enough time!"

"_I'm sorry, but that's what it is. As they say on Earth, take it or leave it._"

The Doctor grumbled and the Fe'aol headed towards the cave. _She better have composed herself. I'm not stopping them. _

* * *

><p>It was now the early morning on Feanor and the morning light seeped dimly into the cave. The Doctor had just fallen asleep three hours ago and the Fe'aol were quietly conversing at the far end of the cave. But the child was wide awake. She held a small book in her hands. In fact, she held a small diary in her hands. It was of a dark read colour... and it wasn't in English.<p>

The child opened it to the last entry and re-read it for the umpteenth time.

_Today is the day that I lose a child.  
>Today is the day I grieve more than I've ever grieved before.<br>Today is the day the world ends.  
>Today is the day I throw in the towel.<em>

_I make a new enemy today.  
>I cause a war today.<br>I set the location today.  
>I set the destination today.<em>

_Today is the day to end all days.  
>Today is the day I put a stop to it all.<br>Today is the day I speak ..._

And it was all her fault._  
><em>


	6. Primates and Goo

AN: Sorry for such a long delay. I got really sick last year when I finished the fifth chapter. After that life has just been really hectic. Proving I haven't forgotten about you, my Whovian brothers and sisters. I've started watching the old school Who as well, so there's more inspiration. Tom Baker is officially my second favourite Doctor, with Matt Smith first and David Tennant third. So, without further ado -Primates and Goo.

Hope you like it!

* * *

><p>The Doctor slept fitfully that night. He dreamed dark and disturbing dreams about Gallifrey and the Time War. He dreamed that he lost Amelia in the heat of the battle. He was terrified and he ran to escape in his TARDIS, but when he arrived, it was River Song and she flew into a fit of rage. She told him to turn around and look for their child; he went to chase after Amelia, but just as he reached her, she was shot by a Dalek and became Jenny dying in his arms once more. He tried to take her dead body back to River, but it was the TARDIS again. He seized his opportunity to escape and took himself to Earth. He stepped out of the TARDIS doors and saw every human glaring at him, but who he noticed the most was Amy and Rory chanting "coward" at him. Rory took out his centurion sword and began to advance. "For a big important Gallifreyan, you sure have no heart." He said and he began to chop the Doctor into pieces.<p>

He woke with a start and saw the child staring at him with her big blue monotonous eyes. Niam and Nyan were still deep in conversation. His head was pounding and he was reminded of the hangover he had after spending the night at the tavern with Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare. He yawned and stretched. "How _long_ was I _out_?"He asked, rubbing his temples.

"You have been asleep for ten Fe'anor hours." offered Niam.

The Doctor calculated that time to approximately fifteen Earth hours. "Oh damn…" He looked outside the cave to see the Fe'anor sun almost half-way across the horizon. Sudden panic gripped him when he realized his companions weren't with them. "Amy! Amy! Amy! Rory! Amy!" He screamed jumping to his feet.

"The rest of your party hasn't returned," goaded Nyan.

"And you're _happy _about it!?" the Doctor cried, hysterically. "Who do you think you _are_? I'm the Doctor, damnit, and you. Listen. To me. Because _I am talking!" _The Fe'aol stared.

The Doctor stood his ground and placed his hands in his pockets. "Well. Now that I have your attention, _where is my family?_"

"We do not know, Doctor. Our apologies." remarked Niam.

"Well that's just _peachy_. Those Ren'nok better have retired by now because I _am going looking for them. Yeah_, I'm _going –_outside! And I'm taking. _My screwdriver. _With me!" He reached down to pick up his sonic screwdriver and headed towards the mouth of the cave. The child stared after him with her inexorable eyes.

"Fine. Come if you _must_, but if you get hurt, you're on your own!" The child followed slowly after him.

Amy and Rory had found shelter in a relatively smaller cave. They later realized, without all of the hyper action around them, that a lower branch from the silver and white trees had torn the skin and some muscle on Amy's right calf. Rory did the best he could with the small first aid kit he had on hand, but he feared that without proper medication, the now infected wound would prove fatal. He didn't doubt that the vegetation on Fe'anor would prove to have healing characteristics, but as he was a nurse and not a trained General Practitioner with a degree in herbology, he decided it _would_ have been best to wait for the Doctor for at least the next few hours. That wasn't to say he wasn't trying. He had seen a few animals native to the planet that bore primate resemblance, but the difficulty was in trying to get close enough to coax them, let alone practice on them.

His theory was he could perhaps capture an already wounded animal in danger of infection– one with a higher metabolism. He would try a series of herbs on its wound until it would appear to heal. If he could find a plant with similar healing tendencies to the medicine he carried in his first-aid kit, Amy could hold on until they reached the TARDIS. It was a long shot, but it was the only plan he had.

Amy stirred in her sleep and Rory went over to her. "Amy, are you up?" He ran his hand over his wife's red hair. She lulled her head onto his hand. She was extremely pale. _Not a good sign. _"How's your leg?" he asked.

"Rory…?"

"Yeah, I'm here." He sat down next to her.

"What time is it…?"

"I don't know, honey. The time here is a bit odd, but it looks to be a little before mid-day."

"Where's the Doctor?"

"He's coming; he'll be here soon."

"Is he bringing the girl?"

"He better," Rory mumbled, just loud enough for the quasi-cognate Amy to hear. "Go back to sleep, Amy. We'll get you better soon. We can go home soon."

She readjusted her position and began to let a restless slumber take her once more. "… I want Melody…" She said before her breath began the sleeping rhythm.

"… I know… I know…"

* * *

><p>The Doctor and the girl traipsed through the silver and white forest in silence. The Doctor was upset and being stubborn and the child was almost scared of him. The air was still as clear as the day before but the Doctor's head was twice as foggy. He wanted nothing more in that moment to have his wife besides him slapping some sense into him. He had a one-track mind and was <em>so <em>focused that he couldn't even see out of his peripherals.

The child attempted to break the silence in desperation. "Thank you," rang her soprano voice.

"For what?" The Doctor grunted.

"For keeping Niam and Nyan away from me last night and for letting me come with you to look for the humans."

He harrumphed and kept walking, moodily. She stopped talking.

They walked seven hours, and then stopped when they saw a creature swing down from the bottom branch of one of the smaller trees. The Doctor jumped backwards. The creature was a stocky humanoid with silver-black fur and a stubby tail. The Doctor growled, completely frustrated. "If you're a Ren'nok, you can shove off. Not today, I'm not in the mood." It shrieked and began to jump around excitedly. The child hid behind the Doctor, frightened. The creature squealed and mimicked her, hiding in front of the Doctor. It peaked from his side at the child and the Doctor just stood awkwardly, unsure what to do. The child was unsure as well; she sidestepped out of the primate's view. Apparently happy to have a playmate, it chased her around and around the Doctor.

"Oi! Stop it!" He stuck out his hand to stop the creature. The creature, seeing the Doctor as another playmate, tried to knock him down. It grabbed the child by the wrist. She squeaked and looked helplessly at the Time Lord. The Doctor acted on instinct, shoving the creature down. It rolled backwards, head over heels than stood up, stunned. It clapped, excitedly and began to dance around him and her. It pointed off in the distance, than began to play with the child's hair. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the creature. The noise it emitted bothered the primate; it gripped its ears and whined, clearly annoyed. It backed off, but continued to point and shriek.

"Do you want us to follow?" He asked, stepping towards it. "Do you know where Amy is?" The creature ran forwards in the direction it pointed. He followed with the child at his tail.

* * *

><p>Rory had administered the second dose of antibiotics, but Amy was looking worse and worse. Her skin had begun take on a slightly green hue. She had stopped waking up every occasion and she was now in a very light restless sleep. He was hoping and praying the Doctor would show up soon because he had run out of resources. Either the creatures he was staking out had gotten more elusive, or he was running out of endurance as well as she.<p>

He had orchestrated a bow and arrow out of vines and roots he had seen lying around, but thus far he couldn't bring himself to shoot another living creature. He didn't have many options though. Rory sighed and stretched. He placed one of his arrows on the bow and pulled the string taught. He could feel the energy reverberating in his weapon and energized, he fired the arrow.

He missed and the creature shrieked and went scampering away. He cursed his nerves and lack of equilibrium. Had there been a sword in his hands, he may have been able to handle it, but his conscience wouldn't permit him to maim it. _"Bloody hell!" _

He slid in beside Amy, took her hand and kissed it. "Amy –Ames? I'll be right back, okay? You stay here. Stay alive for me." He kissed her forehead. "I'm right up there, you see? I'm still close. Just hang in there; can you do that for me?" He squeezed his hand and left her in the cave. He wandered until he found a tree with branches low enough to mount and started to climb. Left hand, right foot, reach, turn and stretch. After five minutes his limbs were burning. Stretch, right hand, stretch left foot, turn and reach. After fifteen minutes it felt as if someone was driving knives into his muscles. After twenty five he was numb. He really couldn't care less about the pretty silver trees when he was about to drop from them, but soon enough he had made it to about the same level as the creatures he had seen. He paused to rest. The tree trunk was strangely comfortable after his harrowing climb –however he couldn't rest for long when he remembered whose life was at stake. He shifted from his sitting position to all fours. He began to look for the ape creatures. He spotted something dark and shimmering in the distance. To mark his position, he tore the sleeve off of his red-checkered shirt and tied it over an overhead branch.

Rory pulled out the knife he had used to ward off the Ren'nok before (he had had to leave the bow on the ground because it was awkward and heavy to carry; however he still kept the projectiles) he advanced towards the shape. A sudden breeze blew past and ruffled his hair. He kept crawling, climbing and descending. Another breeze blew past from another direction. Rory kept staring at his target, not phased –that was, until another shape flew at the creature he hunted and knocked it from the trees. The poor creature cried and branches broke as it fell to its demise.

The breezes stopped and the air grew dense. The hairs on the back of Rory's neck stood up. He couldn't see or acknowledge what was making him ill at ease, but he knew from experience with the Doctor that these were the times when one ought to be most frightened. Every sense in his human body was acutely aware that he was at least one hundred fifty feet off the ground. His limbs froze. Ignoring the sanest part of his brain, he forced himself to look behind him. The tree branches behind him moved slowly under the weight of small shadows. It was as if each shadow was calculating its movement and _his_ own with elegance and the assurance of a lifetime spent in the trees of Fe'anor.

* * *

><p>The child stumbled exhaustedly after the determined Doctor and the excited primate. The dark-silver coated creature kept climbing and descending the lower levels of the trees, often moving so fast it had to double back for its fleshy counter-parts. Her head kept wandering back to the only sanctuary she had ever known. <em>Did she make a mistake in leaving? No, <em>she would not allow herself to think like that. She followed obediently, if feebly. She had made a decision to follow and she _would _follow through.

She tripped and fell over a fallen log and began to cry involuntarily. The Doctor turned around to look at her. "Are you _alright_?" He inquired exasperatedly. She crumbled under his piercing gaze. Her tired legs would not lift her. He hesitated for a second, than ordered "Get on my back." He lowered himself to her level and she got on. He added as an afterthought, "You're just slowing us down."

The primate –the Doctor had named it George –shrieked frantically. It ran forwards beginning to grow more and more impatient. "_Amy?_" cried the Doctor. He picked up pace, sprinting after George. They ran, still increasing speed. The Doctor was running with amazing agility for such awkward situation. After about two more minutes, the child saw a shape of flaming red sticking out from its silver surroundings. She pointed, "There!" she whispered in the Doctor's ear. He slowed for a second to look around. When he saw what she was pointing to he screamed. "_Ammyyyyyy!_" He let the child down and sprinted to his companion's side. The child ran after him. "Amy, no. No. _No, no, no, no._" The girl saw what was bothering him so much the very second she pulled up beside him. She didn't have much experience with humans, but she recognized instantly that this woman was not supposed to look the pale-shade of green she did. There were dark circles of purple under her eyes and her breath was light and shallow. The Doctor cradled her, screaming at her to be okay. "_Rory!?_" he called out. The other man was nowhere to be seen. He saw the right leg of her pants was dyed in crimson blood dried brown. He rolled it up and distinguished a gash the size of his little finger on the calf which had turned purple and green to match her face.

The Doctor turned to face the child with hysteria written all across his face. "I don't know _who_ the hell you are and _why_ you aren't talking, but I know you've got to know _something. _Can you do anything for my Amy?" She thought for a second. "I can _try,_" she offered. He nodded. "Then you bloody well better do it!"

"Can you start a fire?" She asked him.

"Keep her warm." The Doctor agreed.

She went running off into the forest. Horrified, she set her small self with the task of finding a stream. The birds above chirping their delight at the daylight sun made it difficult to hear the trickle of running water. Her navigation skills were good, but it felt like she was running in circles. She jumped over a log, ducked under a dead branch, tripped over a root and fell face first into a puddle but she heard no water. She got up and re-paced herself to a fast jog. She passed silver tree after white tree. It was if the nature of the planet was to work against her. But she would not give up. She came to a cliff and allowed her left brain to take over for a while. _Water runs downstream. It's a liquid pulled by gravity. _She took a deep breath and searched for a way down. The cliff was steep and high. The only option she could take to descend it was a precipitous slope. It was worth a try.

She edged her way over to the slope and began to descend carefully. It went slowly for the first ten feet, but she soon misplaced her footing. She picked up pace, but not of her own volition. Soon, she tumbled down the slope just as George fell away from the Doctor –but with less grace. Her small body careened over itself until it reached the bottom. She stopped about five feet from a large boulder. Bruised and battered, she checked her body when she recuperated, but saw no blood or cuts. She stopped to breathe for a second and listened for a stream. The birds' songs were less pronounced at this level and she was able to strain her ear to hear or imagine a very faint trickle. It was to her left. She sauntered calculatingly over towards it. Not watching exactly where she was going, she was horrified to almost stumble again over a creature just like George, sprawled like a marionette, dead, with blood oozing on the white sand. She almost wretched. Holding her hand over her mouth and nose, she walked on.

At the streambed was a white fern. The child collected a handful of leaves from the plant and went to the water's edge. She knelt down and observed it: crystal clear, and thankfully, without any strange smells. She gathered a few silver leaves from a nearby sapling and fashioned a sort of canteen. She scooped up some water with her make-do container and swung it around madly to make sure there were no leaks. Confidant it was spring-free, she tied it across her shoulder and waist like a sash.

The little girl made her way past the deceased primate, right to the rock, and stood staring at the challenging slope. She adjusted the canteen so it wouldn't spill open, snagging on a rock. She tucked the leaves of the fern behind her ear. She prayed for the strength to make it up the hill and the focus to ignore her aching limbs. She placed her left hand on a rock at the bottom of the hill, her left hand in a small crevice, and began her ascent. Right hand, right foot, left hand, shift to the left, stretch, left foot, stretch, right hand. She slid backwards a few times, but never quite to the bottom of the hill. When she reached the top of the cliff she flat-footed her way as fast as she could back to the cave. Her head spun from the fall. When she noticed the birds had stopped chirping, she almost felt as if they had taken pity on her and stopped mocking. She didn't notice the shadows above her swaying the trees in a random advance. They didn't notice her. She made her way back to the small cave eventually where the Doctor curled around the orange-haired woman in his agony and George sat anxiously above him in a lower tree. She skidded to a halt besides the man she imagined to be her father.

He looked up and stared at her. "I –I think I can help her," she panted insecurely. "_How_?" he asked her. Accepting this as permission to speak, she ordered him to set a series of limestone rocks around the fire so that they could boil the water. "Like a pot?" She stared confused. He did what she asked. She released most of the stream water into the rock container and when it came to a boil, she submerged the fern leaves. When she was satisfied with the concoction, she asked the Doctor to remove it from the fire. She let it cool for a few minutes and then she asked the Doctor to poor it into her canteen. "Is there _supposed_ to be _goo_ at the bottom?" He asked, indicating a congealed substance on the rocks. She nodded, taking the residue and smearing it on the gash on the woman's leg. She forced the woman to sit up and made her drink the rest of the medicine. She bandaged her leg with the leaves she had made her canteen with, and then sat back, waiting on the orange-headed woman to show signs of recovery.

The woman coughed and spluttered; her eyelids began to twitch. Her coughing woke her up. Immediately she screamed: "_Rory_?"

The Doctor let himself breathe. "Pond! You're alive!" He went to hug the woman than stopped. "Rory!" He gasped, realizing the male human wasn't with them. He swore to the side, then turned and glared at the child.

"Stay. _With_. Pond." She nodded, and knelt to rest beside the woman.

The Doctor spun around in a sporadic display, clapped his hands together and announced with determination anew. "Right. Rory: gone. Fe'anor: not fun. _George_, what do you say?" The creature squealed and began to scamper up a tree. "Rory, trees: not good." He straightened his bow-tie. "Bon-voyage, tout le monde! _The Doctor is _here _and he's saving the world again._"

And in a ridiculously theatrical display, he began to scale the tree after George.


	7. A Funny Kind of Death

The Doctor and George scaled the trees of Fe'anor in less than fifteen minutes. He nearly reached the top when a dark shape whizzed past his right ear. He truly had no idea of how he was going to save the last centurion; you know what I say about plans. I don't have one. He got his bearings and scanned the canopies for Rory with his screwdriver. The device whizzed and whirred for a second before showing Rory was to the west. The Doctor and his tail headed in that direction, noticing the leaves behind him growing ominously dark.

"Rory!?" He called out. He shuffled swiftly across the thick branches. Hearing the meek voice of his terrified companion reply "Doctor?" he ran to his side, the primate following nimbly afterwards. He wrapped his friend in a side hug. George squealed beside him. The human companion turned to look the Doctor in the eye, saying in true Rory fashion: "Uhmmm, Doctor? It's great you love me and all, but we're kind of facing imminent death here, unless you can do anything about it. And what's with the monkey?"

"Rory, George; George, Rory… Right…" He analyzed his surroundings and spied the shadows moving ever so calculatedly towards them. "Ren'nok?" he surmised.

"Yeah, I believe so." The tree creatures inched closer. "Have a plan?"

"Naw, I'm the Doctor, I never have a plan."

The birds above cleared with each movement of the advancing Ren'nok. George relented his noisemaking. "Right, so we're four hundred feet off the ground, no TARDIS, my wife is dying, the infamous predators of the Fe'aol are hunting us, they're a thousand times faster than us and we have no plan. What shall we do?"

"Pond is fine, by the way. The girl helped her." Rory breathed out a sigh of momentary relief.

The first of the shadows launched its attack, nearly taking with it the Doctor's head. They enclosed the trio in an inescapable circle. Rory's hands were shaking "Where's my daughter when I need her?" he whispered, off hand. "We could really use her gun right about now." The Doctor stiffened, gulped and straightened his bow-tie. "I can't imagine projectiles working if the Fe'aol couldn't."

In an act of pure testosterone, George stepped outside of the triangle as the circle stopped enclosing. He looked back at Rory and the Doctor as if asking permission, then turned back to face the darkness. He let out an inhuman cry and pounded his chests as only primates do. He then grunted, throwing his shoulders back in a challenge.

Rory and the Doctor surveyed each other, looking for advice in the other's face. George squealed at them in exasperation. "What's he doing?"

"I think he wants to save us."

"How?"

"I don't know."

The Ren'nok, not at all intimated by George, attacked. It was a rather gruesome sight to behold, because the Ren'nok were in no way humane creatures. Because of their speed, they moved across George like a blur, but instead of killing him in an instant, they tore off each layer of him slowly and deliberately. The Doctor and Rory watched in horror as the primate's fur seemed to peel off in all directions as a dark silver shadowy mass breezed around him. This took one second. The next second they slowly peeled of his skin, leaving behind a bloody, blue, slimy mass of gooey flesh: a repulsive sight that set Rory's stomach on edge. Beneath the swift, dark mass his flesh seemed to shrink and grow translucent as it revealed the muscles underneath. They were able to watch his black and blue heart pump twice and his bladder released, but before the urine reached the ground it seemed to evaporate. As the organs peeled off, blue blood coated an underlying skeletal structure. Next the cartilage disappeared, and not long afterwards all that was left was a single bone. As Rory turned to the side, about to wretch, that bone was swiped up and dissolved into thin air.

Not at all recovered from the sight, he managed to choke out "Um, Doctor… what now?"

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, pointing it at the Ren'nok. It buzzed and droned, but the tree creatures were unaffected. "Come on…!" He grunted, smacking it thrice against the palm of his hand. He held it out again, to the same result. He and Rory shared a glance of desperation.

"Jump!" The Doctor ordered.

"What!?"

"It's jump, or that!" He pointed to where George had been standing, the Ren'nok moving slowly in on them, eyes now visible.

Rory hesitated; he could not fathom the four hundred drop down the silver trees. He thought again of George, and, head spinning, he asked "On the count of three?"

"One." Said the Time Lord.

"Two."

"Three!"

The Ren'nok launched their assail at the precise moment the Doctor and Rory jumped from the beautiful trees of Fe'anor.

* * *

><p>Amy and the child sat about five feet away from each other. Amy had attempted to make conversation once more, but the curly headed dirty-blonde child remained mute. Her leg still hurt, and she didn't doubt she'd have scar tissue. She looked under her leaf bandages and saw what was either pus or some kind of medicine. It smelled like herbs, but that could've just been the bandages.<p>

She stared off into the distance. It terrified her that she didn't know where Rory was. She had screamed his name for about five minutes, but when she tried to get up, her leg collapsed out from underneath her. She had tried twice since then –with the same result. She was anxious, and the silent child didn't aid that circumstance at all. In fact, she was still scared of her. She couldn't help thinking of what happened to the child two nights ago, at her house. She was angry that the Doctor didn't come to her aid, but was also upset because it had been such a disturbing thing to witness. She didn't know what that was and she didn't know what she could have done. She didn't know if she should have taken her to the hospital or call an ambulance or U.N.I.T. Surely the hospital wouldn't have responded very well to a multi-hearted organism such as herself in a relatively human form.

The trees overhead were dark and ominous; she was praying that her boys were okay. The trees were moving, but she didn't sense any strange weather. The child was certainly on edge however, for the little emotion she betrayed. Her body language seemed to attempt to be monotonous, but tenseness emanated from her every angle. Her eyebrows tried to portray aloofness, but her wide pupils showed genuine fear. She whined slightly, every so often and it was setting Amy on edge.

Amy tried to get up again, anxious, and this time she managed to stand, if wobbly. She leaned against the cave wall for a second to regain herself, and then cried out her husband's name. "Rory!?" She sauntered over to the nearest tree, almost toppling over, however, managing to stabilize herself once more. "Rory!? Doctor?" A thud and crunch in the distance made both of them jump. Horrified, she screamed. "RORY!"

The child stood up and waded over to her side. Amy looked at her. The child held out her hand generously and Amy took it. The crippled Pond hobbled with the child's help over to the sound. When they reached it, it was not the Doctor or Rory, but Amy was still unprepared for what she saw. It was a silver-blue primate, not unlike the one the child had seen, sprawled out in a very unnatural position. Blue blood everywhere and an arm hanging on to the body only by a sinew. Amy raised her hands to her face and turned away. The child stared.

"Is that the monkey the Doctor came with…?"

No response; as if she had been expecting anything else. "Oh god," said Amy. "Can we get out of here, please?" The child nodded.

They worked their way back to the cave, unsure where else to go. Amy kept on calling out her husband and The Doctor's name. She had that feeling that one only gets when The Doctor is nowhere to be found. Goosebumps crawling up her arms, clammy palms and jumping at every sound. She was upset that she couldn't do anything but sit or hobble around waiting for her hero and her Doctor, for once, not being a heroine.

* * *

><p>The Doctor and Rory seemed to fall in slow motion. The silver canopy floated above them, getting farther and farther, the Doctor's plaid jacket and Rory's polyester sweater billowed up and around them and the ground below them grew closer and closer. The trees around them turned into a blur. The Doctor tried to send him a mental message: Rory, I met Amelia first as a young girl –she's the first face this face saw, but I love you Rory. You have been a great companion and I couldn't ask for anyone else as a father-in law. Thank you. He understood.<p>

–They felt a gradual impact. The Doctor opened his eyes. "Funny sort of death." He remarked. "I'd say this is the best one yet!" He looked to his left to see Rory standing upright just the same as him.

"Doctor, are we dead?" Rory asked.

"No, this isn't dead."

The duo surveyed the space around them and realized that they were not outside in the fresh air of Fe'anor. In fact, they were inside; not outside at all. The Doctor spun around, doing a double take. They were enclosed in a very large white, iridescent sphere.

"We're kind of in a ball." Observed Rory.

"That's right! Well done, Mr. Pond!"

Rory shifted his position in irritation.

A blue line began to form in the sphere and continued until it was the size of a large human male, it was a rectangular shape. The Doctor and Rory stopped and stared. The Doctor removed his screwdriver from his jacket and probed their prison. There was a hissing noise and the shape began to reveal light from the top. The door dropped down to reveal an extremely high-tech room, void of colour, but as iridescent as the sphere. The Doctor and Rory stepped outside and turn to the right and get the feeling they're in a futuristic rat hole. There were ten foot cylindrical, silver tunnels in five different directions; tendrils in each wall, the infrastructure mocked organic, but for the obvious technological ingenuity of it all.

"What the hell?" remarked the centurion.

"Rats," answered the Doctor. "Really big rats. With iPads."

The two turned and walked down the hallway. They came to another intersection with five other tunnels. They chose one and realized it turned slowly upwards. After coming to another intersection and feeling utterly and thoroughly confounded, the Doctor sonicked the walls. He hacked until he finally found the intercom. He plugged himself in and spoke.

"Is this thing on?" his voice rang throughout the tunnels. "Okay, Doctor here. And Rory –we're lost. We were dead, until we were lost. We request assistance." Instantaneously, a glittering beam of light enclosed around the two and constricted until it fit loosely on their skin, causing them to look almost shimmery. The glittering increased until they were almost blinded, and then decreased to reveal, once more, another section of the rat's nest. A deep monotonous voice called out over the intercom, "head forwards". The Doctor and Rory obeyed. They came to what appeared to be a dead end and surveyed each other inquisitorially. As they stood, contemplating their options, another blue light appeared and cut another door in the tendrils.

"Okay…"

They walked through the door into what appeared to be a control room. Outside of a window at the front, they could see the trees of Fe'anor. "You've hacked our systems twice today, Doctor. Most unagreeable," droned a bored voice. The Doctor swiveled. Lay back on two eggshell chairs were Niam and Nyan. "Is this your ship? You've found it, congratulations!" He paced furiously over to the less pleasant of the Fe'aol and shook his hand vigorously.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated, Doctor. We saved your life."

"And I thank you for it!" He flayed his hands in a very Doctor-esque fashion. "Is this before, or after you've found the safety of your little hovel hole? Oh right… And you couldn't save the Ponds before." He smiled then, just to for the sake of being smirk.

Rory interjected. "Uh, I'm confused as to what just happened."

The Doctor turned to explain himself. "So, while you and Amy were out there doing who knows what, these two survivors of Fe'anor," he stressed that last line "Returned back to our cave and wouldn't go out to look for you, leaving you outside with the Ren'nok." He swiveled back around to face the Fe'aol. "And as you were busy looking for your ship in the safety of day, Amy is dying. Rory scaled the trees, I went after him and we came face to face with the Ren'nok. Did I mention we had to jump out of the trees? Oh, and I saw a monkey die –George, my monkey!"

Niam stood up and strolled in three steps of his ridiculously long legs over to the Doctor, staring down on him. The Doctor peered right back up at him, confidently, refusing to be stared down.

"Our intentions were not ill-meant. Our apologies if it appeared otherwise."

"Thanks, by the way. For saving our lives –mine twice" nodded Rory.

"What?" It was now the Doctor's turn to ask questions.

"We were with Niam and Nyan, looking for the Tardis and their ship, and the Ren'nok came and attacked us. Niam and Nyan told Amy and I to run and they'd take the tree creatures. Yeah, they kind of sacrificed themselves -for us, so we owe them one. And then they got us again, so I guess I owe them twice."

The Time Lord was stubborn. "I didn't see their ship. I don't think they saved us."

"You died." Goaded Nyan.

Niam strolled back to his seat and explained. "In a separate reality, you had fallen to your death. The human died. Doctor, you regenerated. We intervened –"

The Doctor cut him off, "You can't do that!"

Niam continued. "We intervened, as per direct orders from Fin'ora (or if you prefer, Fe'anor II). Our vessel has multi-loop modulators that, if given the highest clearance, can interrupt the flow of time to stop the death of time. We found our vessel ten Earth miles away, and travelled to these coordinates here," a three-dimensional display popped up in between the Fe'aol, the Gallifreyan and the human that showed the approximate location at which Rory and the Doctor jumped. The red fabric from Rory's sleeve stuck out like a sore thumb. "We split the time continuum, and shunned out the other reality by opening up our roof so that the two of you would fall in. The sphere that you were contained in is designed especially for falling objects. Its curvature cushions the fall more efficiently than a soft object at such a velocity and allows mobile objects an easy path out. However, we were anticipating coming to get you in due time. Dissecting your way out of the sphere made our reunion a slight but more convoluted."

"That was a fixed point!" The Doctor was still baffled. "You can't do that! You would create a paradox!"

"We have authority over time, as well Doctor. If I am to put it in layman's terms. We have mastered the third dimension, the fourth was no trifle" added Nyan.

"So, where on from here?" Rory covered for the Doctor, who was still muttering about paradoxes.

"We must wait for the ship to repair itself, as multi-loop jumps had not quite been perfected in these outdated models. I assume afterwards you would like to find your own vessel or the human woman and child?"

"If we get the Tardis first, we can help Amy."

The Doctor agreed. The Fe'aol vessel conjured two eggshell chairs for the pair like it transported them and the Doctor and Rory sat down. The Doctor spun his to face Rory and leaned forwards so that they were only whisper distance apart. "You can't just manipulate time. It's against every law of physics. It would tear the universe apart? And what do they mean –to stop the death of time? Time already almost died. It can't die twice –it's time! Time doesn't exist outside of time. It's a paradox of paradoxes! Like the grandfather paradox! It doesn't work!"

"If you don't stop thinking about it, your brain is going to explode." Niam and Nyan droned in the background in Fe'aol. "Where's Amy?"

The Doctor relented, distracted for the moment. "With the kid. I left them where I found her. She's alright though; the kid made this medicine out of leaves and rocks and such." His eyes darted to Niam and Nyan.

"I tried to do that. My nursing skills don't really include making medicine out of alien plants, though."

"Can you believe it, all she did was make goo! And it worked brilliantly!"

Rory laughed. "Are you too getting along?"

"I'm only slightly miserable when she doesn't call me Daddy." He rolled the last word off of his tongue with disgust. Rory rolled his eyes.

"Granted, she did save Amy; you can't hate her that much."

"—ah, but how did she know how to? That's not right. One isn't born with the knowledge of how to enter the Tardis and magically save a human woman when you're a Time Lord.

"Don't tell me when you first visited Earth that you didn't realize our anatomies or almost identical."

"No." This came as news to the Doctor. He never thought himself to resemble a human that much. Am I people? Do I even look like people?

"I bet the only difference between our bodies is that you can live indefinitely, have two hearts and can regenerate. Your lungs are probably different to make room for your right heart, but, otherwise, you're John Smith."

"If I'm going to be human, my name has to be Fred."

"No. Kibosh on the Fred. "

"Matt, then!"

They bantered back and forth for about ten minutes before the Fe'aol ship was ready. It took them directly overhead the blue Police Box. Rory said goodbye to Niam and Nyan; the Doctor being decidedly insolent, did not. The light transported them down to the Tardis. The Doctor opened the door, let Rory in, closed it and rushed up towards the main console. He plugged in the coordinates for the cave where they left Amy and the child and set course.

* * *

><p>The child heard a whirring sound to the left of her. She pointed to alert the woman. The woman jumped up from her sitting position and nearly fell back down on her leg. "Doctor!?" The woman called, rushing towards the source of the sound. A split second later, she was in a full hobbled sprint towards the Tardis. The human man and the Doctor stepped out.<p>

The one with fiery hair leaped into the male human's arms with a force that would have nearly knocked him over had he not reciprocated the attack. They pulled back just enough to kiss each other and returned to their embrace.

"Are you okay, Ames?" The man asked, squeezing her.

"Yeah, are you? I thought you died!"

After a while, she remembered about the child's father. "Doctor!" She tottered over to him and he hugged her as well. "Amelia Pond…" he said, smiling. She pulled back and almost tripped.

"You're still hurt?" the male asked.

"Just a little."

"Let me see?" He asked and they went inside the Tardis, Amy beckoned to the child. She followed, obediently, but she couldn't help but notice the glare the Doctor gave her as she passed under his arm and inside the time machine.

The Doctor followed last, closing the door behind the child, muttering "my Tardis."


	8. Anxiety and Flirting

I apologize; the last chapter was a little lackluster I had a lot of fun writing, but I suppose I kind of took off and didn't fully explain and emphasize all I meant to. Sorry once again, I hope this one is a little better. :)

* * *

><p>The Tardis scans showed that Amy had significant subdermal bruising, but after about a day or two she would be able to walk again without limping. She and Rory were sitting on the handrails surrounding the Tardis console, the Doctor was tinkering, and the child sat a good ten feet away from the fondling Ponds, but still on the handrail.<p>

"Well … that was _interesting. _I thought we were done for!"

Amy surveyed him, inquisitorially and then turned to Rory. "What _did _happen up there?"

"Well, you almost died, so I went looking for something to help you. I ended up in the trees, and got surrounded by the tree creatures. I thought I was _doomed _but the Doctor and his monkey, George, found me –"

The Doctor cut him off. "Not a monkey, actually. A _type _of primate, yeah, but monkeys come from Valanos… What, you didn't think they came from Earth, did you?"

"Can I continue?" The Doctor nodded.

"So… The Doctor didn't have a plan. George tried to save us, but the tree creatures got him –it was disgusting, to say the least. So… we jumped. We thought we were going to die. The Fe'aol got us though –apparently we _did _die; they just stopped us from dying."

"It's all… wibbly wobbly timey wimey … And I don't like it!" He started to mutter again when Rory asked about what had happened to him and the girl when they went out with the Fe'aol.

"Ah, nothing really… we sat for a few hours. The same thing happened again last night –like when I went to see River. Now don't jump down my throat, because I tried to do something and I couldn't. Eventually the Fe'aol came back. I slept for a while –dreamt of Gallifrey. That's when we went out looking for you, the kid and I. We found George. We found Pond –the girl helped her; I went after you when Amy was okay. You know the _rest._"

The Ponds looked over at the child. "What do you mean, it happened again? Like when she had her seizure-type … _thing_?"

"Yeauuuup, and I couldn't do _damn _thing!"

"But you _did _try, didn't you?" asked Rory.

"Of course I tried! I may not like her, but I wouldn't let another creature suffer because I felt like being _selfish._"

"Just checking, Doctor."

He didn't have a fixed point that he wanted to take his companions at the moment, especially with Amy injured, so he was just letting the Tardis drift about in the winds of time and space. No obligations, no necessities, no adventures; just a dull drone in the room thick enough to cut with a knife. The Doctor wasn't trying to be miserable, but Amy and Rory were suspicious. The silent child in the room was not helping a single bit. Grasping at straws, the Doctor suggested challenged Rory to a game of ping-pong. The Doctor won, or, more precisely, Rory had quit. He sidled back beside his wife and cuddled her once more.

* * *

><p>River in her cell sat mischievous and contemplative. Unlike when the Doctor last visited her, the bars on her cell seemed less like big metal bars, but more as large silver spaghetti strings. Seeing a guard walk past her, she snagged her opportunity.<p>

She straightened out her dress, fixed her hair and walked over to the edge of the cell. "Guard!" she called. The guard walked over."Hel_lo_…" She cocked her head to the side and smiled, leaning her hip against the wall and her arm high above the same wall. The Silurian-Alaxen hybrid smirked in front of her and leaned against the wall, opposite her. "What is it you'd be wantin', milady?"

"Thought you might be a tad bored… patrol can't be that interesting, can it?"

He laughed –a gruff, mean laugh. "No, it's not… Can't imagine what the hell you bastards did to get in _this _hell hole." He laughed again.

"Only killed a man."

He smirked, "You're just a lightweight!" He was enjoying this.

"What's it to you,_ hmmmm_? _You're _just a guard."

"_Am_ I now?"

She could feel the sleaze ball radiating off of him, nevertheless, she flirted on.

"That depends…" she laughed.

He puffed out his chest. "On…?"

"What would you do to help a pretty lady?" She walked over to her bed, taking special care to bounce her hips as she did so.

"And what would the pretty lady be wantin'?" he asked, aroused.

She crossed her legs, shrugged and smirked. "It gets _awfully _monotonous in here… A girl _could _do with a walk once in a blue moon? _Hmmmm?_"

The guard stood erect. "Not on your life, lady. Nice try though … and might I say? You look _fine._" He laughed and walked away.

River cursed in her head. She'd try again later.

* * *

><p>The Doctor felt awkward; he didn't like to feel awkward. He was pacing and jittery and hopping to and from each end of the console room and he was not enjoying it. If he were to be alone with the Ponds or even just Amy, he would be content to just sit around talking about nothing for twenty minutes; they would later find something to do. But Amy was exhausted, Rory became fidgety when he wasn't around to nurse his wife and the child was driving a wedge between them. What he really needed was some levity and jovial banter. He needed a break from the drabness in the Tardis.<p>

It was beginning to irritate him, the grayness in his time machine. Again, he was tempted to mutter _my Tardis. All misery can go _out _the door. _But …he kept his anger in check for the sake of his companions.

Anxious and bored of circling the Tardis console room for the ninth time in five minutes; he threw on an unidentified switch. The Tardis jolted violently to the left and sparks flew from the console.

Amy snapped. "Go –do something!"

Feeling slightly condemned, the Doctor slinked off to another section of the Tardis. He wandered into the library, scanned the books, decided that there was nothing to read, and walked out. He walked into the pool room, stripped and changed, then, deciding at the edge of the pool that he wasn't feeling that, either, put his clothes back on and walked out. He walked into the pottery room, looked at the masterpieces of some of his previous regenerations, compared them to the piteous ones of his current regeneration and walked back out, discouraged. He tried golf, but, after breaking a window he didn't know he had, exited once more.

He finally found a room that resembled a living room, but cosier. He planted himself in a big mahogany nest chair and found that he couldn't get out. That suited him just fine; he figured that everyone just wanted him out of their hair anyways. He wondered how the Ponds and the child were fairing. He supposed she wasn't all that terrible; she did save Amy's life and hadn't done anything to harm him or them. Settling in, he began to feel guilty again. He knew Amy and Rory had lost their Melody Pond to Mme. Kovarian, and it was a bout of sadness they never had quite recovered from. They loved that child something fierce, but she was taken from them and raised as a murder weapon just to bring him down. But hadn't he, _too_, lost enough? What of Susan, K-9, Gallifrey, Rose and Jenny? What of the pre-witnessed death of his beloved wife and the only other Gallifreyan to last the Time War, the Master?

He kept telling himself, time and time again throughout his millennia plus lifetime, the more you love, the more you lose. The more you lose, the worse it hurts. But he couldn't live with himself otherwise, had it not been for his companions; they kept him sane. He may have always been an eccentric man and at times anti-social, but his need for companionship was almost as strong as –if not _just_ as strong as –the grief that came whenever he lost someone dear to him.

It _may_ have been this that caused him to keep his distance from the child; he _knew _that he could not fall in love just to lose another child. Maybe he was just titillated from Amy and Rory's compassion. He didn't like being bested at being the caregiver, so, in his malice, he decided to show them what _bad _was. Maybe he wasn't meant to travel with an abundance of companions at the same time. During most of his regenerations, he only had one at a time, but thus far, he had Amy, Rory, and River and had sometimes had Amelia. He craved attention, but not constant spotlight, with everyone looking up to him to be the hero.

* * *

><p>River, after watching for six hours sunken down in her bed, finally saw another hyper masculine looking guard stroll past. She applied her hallucinogenic lipstick and yodeled him to her side. She smiled, once again and flipped her hair. He came over to her, a little harder looking than the previous guard, but she would manage.<p>

"Can I _help_ you?" he asked. She couldn't recognize his species; he was a dark red, compact, muscled humanoid with a hard lustrous skin.

"It's rubbish in here, I want out now." The guard gave her a hard look.

"I'm not helping you with that." He stated.

"You'll change your mind; they always do."

"Right, whatever, lady." He turned to leave. "Oh no, you don't" whispered River. She reached out from her cell, grabbed him spun him around and kissed him. It was disgusting. His dark red dry lips were like kissing a rouge meteor. He tried to kiss her back, but she pulled away, nauseous. He gazed after her, enthralled. Her lipstick had worked its wonders.

"You are a goddess." He proclaimed to her. River rolled her eyes. She hated this part. Only the Doctor was allowed to swoon over her.

"Right, sweetie, get me out of here."

"Your wish is my command."

The guard opened up the door, she walked out, pressure pointed him, and found her well known exit. She took the turbo lift down to the first floor, kissing many other guards along the way, and sneaking her way into a small dart vessel to take her leave. She found a notepad. _Perfect. _She scrawled out a note and broadcasted it over time. _Kiss kiss._

* * *

><p>The Doctor may have fallen asleep in that chair, contemplating his life at the current moment, or he may not have, but all he knew is that a sudden craving for fish-fingers and custard jolted him back into reality. He got up and found the kitchen, noticing that the Tardis was significantly easier to navigate when one had a purpose or an agenda. He bolted to the freezer, pulled out a box of fish-fingers and set his oven to 345˚. He went to the fridge, opened it up, pulled out a can of just-add-water-and-milk custard and slammed it shut. A small piece of paper fell to the ground. A note scrawled in red: <em>Churno, 5 o'clock, the 254<em>_th__ day of the 3142__nd __year, Tardis time._ Signed, _X. _

He smiled to himself; here was his levity… or danger. He never _could _quite tell if Dr. River Song was in peril or just being a flirt.

Turning the stove off, he dropped the fish custard and ran to the console. Amy and Rory had turned in; they left a message on the intercom memory saying that the girl had followed them. He set the time to the appointed date, checked the mirror, straightened his bowtie, and fixed his hair. He was excited for his date with River. It wasn't often he got to see her, he _loved _the mystery the Time Lady presented, and he _loved _her. He left his own message over the intercom: _If you need me, I'll be back soon. Got a hot date. See you soon Ponds. Bye…_you_…_ He realized he didn't have a name for the child. He had decided to wish her a farewell as well because of the high he was currently on.

The Tardis swished and whooned until it reached his destination. The Doctor checked the mirror once more, than stepped outside the door. It was an m-class planet, Earth like in design, but the natives were mostly cyborgs. He closed the Tardis door and wandered around for a bit. The sky grew dark and it was reflected on the igneous mountain range he parked his time machine, but cut out of the shadowy sky were the words _Hello Sweetie. _He smiled and blushed. _Typical River. _Only his Time Lady girlfriend would risk wrecking a perfectly good ozone layer to say hello. She had cut it, as well, into one of the oldest cliff faces in the universe. He never answered his phone was her explanation.

He saw a body of lioness-like curly golden hair over the horizon and watched as the daughter of his companions came to greet him. He got his swagger on and strode over to her.

"_Dr. River Song." _He sung, annunciating every precious syllable.

"_Hello_ _Sweetie..._" She teased. How glad he was to see her.


	9. Haven

The Doctor danced to River's side and surveyed her. "Where are we now?" He asked. She raised an eyebrow and said "_I_ just escaped from Atraxe again. Last saw you when you came to my cell. You had mentioned something about a little girl…?"

"Ah, yes… can we _not _talk about that right now?"

"Whatever you wish, my love."

"This… is why you're my favourite." He tapped her on the nose and she smiled.

They were perfect for each other, a match in every single way. When he was angry, she could calm him; when she wanted to murder him, he could make her fall in love; when he was squeamish about harming a creature, her trigger-happy tendencies could take eleven Silence in a minute. Seeing River that day, on Churno made his dark insides squirm with a titillating, yet nostalgic delight. She was as much a piece of him as he was a piece of her.

They searched until they could find a place to halt. They half leaned, half sat against the cliffs of Churno, overlooking an active volcano. Almost back to back, but at the same time, side by side.

"Now tell me, _my bespoke psychopath_, just how you got out of the prison with the highest security in the universe for the …what … _seventh_ time, now is it?"

She observed his oddly inquisitive demeanor and answered with the only answer she knew to placate him. "Hallucinogenic lipstick; they fall for it every time."

He nodded, simply and stared off into the lava below. "You know… you never really _told _me exactly how that works –do you have to _kiss_ them?"A look of utter disgust spread across his face.

"I can promise you, I have yet to find a single man in the universe who can kiss as well as you, Doctor."

"That's better… wait _what?_" River chuckled. She took his hand in hers, both glad for a moment of surrender.

The Doctor was well aware of the fact that his wife knew how to slap him back into shape, but she understood him completely. There was no fear of judgement or condemnation where River Song was involved, and at the current moment, the Doctor could not have been more grateful of the fact. Amy Pond may have been the _first face his face saw_ and Rory may have been the last centurion, stuck in the Pandorica for two millennia, but when it came to acceptance, only River knew when the right time to persist was and when was the right time to back off.

"You've got that face on again, Doctor."

"What face?" He patted his head down, just to make sure he hadn't regenerated and wasn't aware of it.

"The _she's hot when she's clever _face."

He laughed. "I see what you did there." She laughed as well.

"Do you miss me, my love, when you're off flying in your magic blue box? When you're off seeing the stars and saving planets, do you ever think, _I wish I had River Song right now_?"

"There isn't a moment when the thought is not on my mind."

"And you're not just saying that?"

He turned to face her, staring hard down into her manic hazel eyes. "Cross my hearts. And I give my permission to the universe to spite me if I lie." The stare he gave her was so sincere and genuine that she was forced to look away. His twin cerulean eyes almost emanated anger, such was the earnestness of his gaze.

"And where do I lay, Doctor? On your list of importance. Am I up there with Gallifrey and Rose, or do I stand amongst your beloved K-9?"

"K-9 was a friend, and Rose was my girlfriend –a very close one, mind you, but you, _River Song_, you are the woman that _married _me. Not since Gallifrey, have I had anyone like you."

They stood in silence until the Doctor smiled again in her direction. "You _put_ on a brave face, my dearest River Song, but just you remember, I am a safe place for your insecurities. Don't you doubt that."

"I trust you with my life. Don't you doubt _that._"

"How can I? How many times have you jumped into a vast expanse of _space_, waiting on me and my Tardis to show up and rescue you? I'm a scapegoat, not a lifeboat."

"And when would I let you be my scapegoat, hmm?"

"Never; you're too sentimental. Honestly, sometimes I think we're married." Her eyes lit up with laughter. He loved that she got him, she understood him. Be it her psychopathic mentality, her outrageous upbringing, her lineage and Time Lady DNA, or that they were just star crossed lovers. Her laughter made her more beautiful than she normally was and the Doctor was overwhelmed.

"River?" His eyes penetrated her. River got the message.

He moved in close towards her. She wrapped one hand around his head, the other around his shoulder and moved in close in response. Her breath on his lips. His breath on hers. The kiss of a Gallifreyan was not something to be taken lightly. Sure, his previous regenerations may have messed around a little, but when a Time Lord means it, and both parties can feel it, it's like an eruption, a supernova, a star being born. When a Time Lord means a kiss, he sells his soul.

They pulled apart, just staring into the other's eyes, not daring to look anywhere else for fear of losing what flame they had kindled.

"I love you, Melody Pond." He looked around awkwardly for a second, as if shocked that those words had exited his mouth, but when he analyzed it, he realized that he meant it whole-heartedly. He recentered his gaze back on her.

"I love _you_, Doctor." There were no smiles from her, when she said this. The Doctor had known this to be a fact since the moment he met her back in the Library. She had always been _his _River and she always would.

They remained in their embrace and sunk down onto the ground. They cuddled; just sat and cuddled. "I like this, _no_ monsters, no aliens. Not flying around from planet to solar system, being the hero. I'm not a hero. I'm a mad man, and I'm _here_… Just me and my psychopath…

You know, you're much prettier _not _covered in cell _gunk_." He toyed with River's golden locks. "And you've the _greatest_ hair in all of Time and Space."

"I'd say genetics, but being a Time Lady and all, it's more regeneration. But what can I say? I _try_." She then turned on him, "And you, have the _worst _fashion sense in all of space and time. What, with the fez, bowtie and that _ridiculous _scarf."

"Bowties are cool." The Doctor fixed his in semi-mock insult. The image of her and Romana together surfaced in his mind. He shuddered.

"Whatever you say, my love"

The sun in the cloudy sky began to set, giving way to a Van-Gogh-esque atmosphere.

River checked her watch. She looked at the Doctor. She looked back down at her watch. "What, are you late for another date?" He kid. She chuckled, "Just wait and see." As if on cue, the ground beneath them began to rumble. Mount Helias in front of them started to crackle; small red angry globs of molten rock began to spew in all directions. The Doctor swallowed in anticipation that sat up straight. Madmen and their psychopath spouses tend not to fear for their lives as most would when facing an active Volcano. The Time Lord, being the child at heart that he was, clapped and laughed with delight.

"Doctor River Song, I could kiss you! _Again!_"

"I thought you'd like it."

A giant ball of inferno whizzed past them and landed just beyond the Tardis.

"The Tardis!"

"Don't worry; I fixed its shields last time. You really ought to take better care of your home, you know."

"She loves me _just fine_. Always tinkering with my Tardis."

A yet again more massive fireball flew into the air as Helias got more and more irate. It exploded and rained its ashes all over like fireworks. The remnants that fell back into the volcano sizzled and crackled, spewing little sparks of heat everywhere.

"A_hoh!_ River, this is _fantastic!_" He was like a little boy on Christmas morning… a more, hyper-intelligent, married little boy in a Time Lord's body. River, although just as eccentric in her own ways, was as equally amused by the destructive power of Mount Helias as the Doctor's reaction. She bathed in the all the glory of her surroundings. A seismic shake that sent the couple hurtling churned the molten rock to the surface, which spilled over the side of the mount to the northeast of them. The Doctor clapped his glee out once more.

He glanced at her with a manic glint in his eye, "Let's do this more often."

"We'll call it date night," she smiled.

* * *

><p>River lay, in ecstasy with her surroundings. The mountain spewing out its deluge in all its ferocity was still not the biggest explosion to her that night. That kiss was one of the more memorable ones, but she had been there before. What stuck with her was that her Doctor had told her that he loved her. The first honest thing she had known about the Doctor was that he was irrevocably in love with her, and that was worth more than all of the stars in the universe. She had tried to kill him that day in Berlin, but even when he was on his death bed and none of his regenerations could save him, he did not spite her. She could see it in his eyes that he would have taken that poison an infinite number of times before he would have let pain come to her. He loved her before she knew him, but what hurt was he had never had verbalized it. She knew that there was still a part of him that was in love with Rose Tyler, but that was his past. He had made it abundantly clear to her that day that she was his one and only. <em>His <em>River. _His _Melody Pond.

She was entertained by his juvenile elation. Her mad man, in many ways, was like the man who had never grown up. She supposed he would have, but one could not live for thousands of years and keep their sanity. She may have only been half of his life span. She knew that. There comes a point in time when one cannot live with all they've witnessed with an adult mind. In her own ways, River was as broken as the Doctor. He may have lost his planet, but she had lived half of her life in the clutches of the Silence, being manipulated to their to Mme. Kovarian's murderous intentions. _She _was the one faced with almost causing the fabric of space-time to disintegrate if she would not murder him. He may have seen many die, but she had had a thousand deaths when he could not remember her. _She _had to stand beside Amy and Rory Williams for centuries, _waiting _to tell them _'look at me, I'm your daughter. I'm Melody Pond.'_

Her thoughts wondered to the child the Doctor was so reluctant to talk about. Her heart ached. In a mere second her thoughts towards the Time Lord holding her in his arms turned vile. She envisioned herself back at the edge of the Universe saying to her mother and father _'Amy, Rory… it's me, Melody Pond. I'm your daughter. I'm all grown up Mummy, Daddy. Look at me.'_ Instead of regarding her in the love and compassion and sorrow they had, they would turn and glare. _'You're not my baby. You're just a lunatic with an ego complex. Go away; don't you dare show your face to us again.' _The thought burned through her like a dark cavity that she couldn't fathom. The simple idea of such a rejection tore through her. She would persist, she knew she would –like she persisted for the Doctor, but to have been rejected only once (not even a multiple of times) would sting like the plasma from the Tesselecta.

River wondered what it would be like to have a child. The vision of that curly golden haired baby with the diamond eyes popped into her mind again. She had escaped the Atraxe for _two _reasons that day. One was to spend the day flirting with her husband… the other was because she couldn't shake the thought of the Time Baby. Now introduced, she wanted it desperately, as she wanted the Doctor, and when Dr. River Song wanted something, she knew how to get it.

The Doctor and her and this child –she hadn't idealized a name, but she was leaning towards Aishaelle –would travel planet to planet. No monsters and no death. Environments and situations like there on Churno. Excitement galore, mystery to explore and forever more adventure. For what was a descendant of Gallifrey without a little action? The child would be as much as a lunatic as her two parents, but with all of the dark, seductive, secrecy removed. Aishaelle would be a genius, a visionary, an actress, but overall, completely off her rocker and breathtakingly adorable. An angel encased in the body of a miniature Time Lady. Aishaelle.

River decided to take the bull by the horns. "Now that we've had a small break from reality, my love, I think it's time to talk about that child. What's her name? What's she like?"

The Doctor tensed up, all of the sudden uncomfortable. He shifted his position. He turned to glance at his wife and ran his hand through his hair like he always did when he had something to explain.

"She's a mystery. I don't know _anything_ really. I know she's smart and dull –like, flat, like she ate a Cyberman. She saved Amy, and for that, I am _forever _grateful, but… I don't like her –_no_ I don't know _what _to make of her." He looked around as if he had admitted a giant secret that he had held back for a very long time and was waiting for assurance, to know he wasn't a bad boy.

"How long has she been around?"

"Three days and two …" He sat up erect. She could see the gears in his mind going to furious work. He looked concerned. "Oh no. _No, no, no, no, _no!" He let go of her and jumped up to a standing position, balanced on his feet for a split second, then furiously pivoted to face his Tardis half a kilometer away. He started to pace over to it; River stood up after him, watching, worried.

"What's wrong, Doctor?"

"Girl. Ponds. Tardis. Come along."

Before River had gotten the opportunity to ask him to form coherent sentences, she heard the voice of her mother yelling out from the Tardis. _"Doctor!"_

"A_my_!" He cried. He raced towards the Tardis with River hot on his heels. They stormed that half kilometer in thirty seconds. He looked Amy square in the eye, asking "the girl?" Amy vehemently nodded.

"Wife," The Doctor grabbed River by the wrist and dragged her inside at sprint speed. Amy followed right behind until they came to one of the guest bedrooms. Rory was rushing to and fro with an assortment of first aid equipment, but that wasn't what had caught her attention.

What she saw inside the Tardis stopped River's heart. All she could think of was little Melody Pond, stuck inside the astronaut suit for a near eternity, waiting to strike the Time Lord dead. She held onto her husband as if her life depended on it. For all the time she had spent wanting to kill him, and for the love that he had given her. For all the times she had called him a child. _This _was certainly no child, no child that she had seen. This _was _another Melody Pond, stuck in the clutches Mme. Kovarian.

The little girl looked up at her with tortured eyes. "Mummy?" she asked.

River let go of the Doctor and went to kneel beside the child.

"I'm here sweetie, I'm here."

River held out her hands and the shaking child took them with a tear rolling down her face. Hurt like hell like River knew she was, the child let River draw her into an embrace. This was no Aishaelle. The child in River's arms scared her to death. She clung onto the wraith-like figure that just shook as she sobbed into her breast. Her sweaty dirty-blonde curls fell into River's face. _Regenerate, damnit, regenerate! _She thought desperately. _Take all the pain away! _

"Dad?" Rory swooped down to his daughter's side. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. I've tried everything. I can't figure it out."

"Did you try the Tardis scans?"

He looked at Amy, then the Doctor. "No." He said. "We've done a blood test, to see if she was the Doctor's or not."

"Is she mine?"

"The Tardis doesn't have your DNA on record, but she wouldn't be anyone else's."

"She called me Mummy."

The child sobbed and sniffled in her arms, weak.

"What she needs right now, Melody, is to sleep. We can talk about this later." River agreed and Amy came to help the child and her up. The girl just looked at Amy and then back at River.

"Come on, sweetie, do what Rory tells you, Rory know best." The child hesitantly stood up, but would not follow Amy. To coax the child, River stood as well and started to the door. The child followed. The trio left the room to The Doctor and Rory.

The two Pond women knew the Tardis like the back of their hand. They found a small green bedroom with a twin size bed and an armchair. They helped the child to bed, taking off her shoes and helping her into a large T-shirt left over from one of the Doctor's previous companions. The girl was almost infantile; she was so extremely distraught and wouldn't let River leave.

"Are you okay here, River?"

She nodded and Amy left the room. River sat by the girl's side, just soothing her. She thought she had calmed the child at first, she had stopped crying and only dry sobs were left, but when Amy left the room, the child began to cry furiously again. River was hurt, seeing herself too much in that small body. She couldn't, however, guess at what she was so upset about. Unsure what else she could do, she let the child cry herself to sleep. She got up to leave, but found she was struggling with turning her back on the girl that had just captured her heart. She lowered herself into the armchair and realized she had gotten into more than she had bargained for that day. She herself probably fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Amy had re-adjourned with the Doctor and Rory in the Pond's bedroom. "So…uhmmmm…what was that?" They were all shocked. Amy and Rory were less traumatized by what had happened to the child then they were the first time, but it came as a huge surprise to the Ponds and the Doctor by the way the child and River seemed to click.<p>

"Yup, that's River." Was all the Doctor could say. He fixed ran his hand through his hand then fixed his bowtie. The Ponds just observed each other.

"Okay, well, I _was _sleeping. Not sure that's going to happen again tonight" Rory commented.

The Doctor silently agreed. He ran the events of the past few days in his mind. Meeting the strange silent girl. Having her and the Tardis tell him he's a father again. Scorned by an obstinate, angry River. Returning to the Ponds and a spiteful child. Travelling to the beautiful silver planet. Losing the Ponds and guarding the child from droning aliens. Saving Amy from an infection and Rory from the Ren'nok. Having his and Rory's death reversed. Meeting River on Churno. Telling her he loved her. Witnessing the child and her bond so instantly.

He didn't like that River was still down the hall with her. He didn't want anyone to love that child better than he could, least of all his wife. He could understand Amy and Rory, they didn't have a Time Lord's burden and they had _lost _their child. River had sorrows of her own, but not that. She hadn`t lost a child…had she? The little girl was reciprocating the affection. In a strange sort of way, he was almost jealous. Until he remembered the little girl calling her _'Mummy'_. He knew in his hearts that River _would _be only the one to mother another one of his children.

She had shown inherent maternal instincts that he didn't know she possessed. He was surprised. He felt even worse of a man than he had before. He wondered why his paternal instincts hadn't kicked in. The empty black hole re-opened in his chest.

He and the Ponds sat around for a while, but in his misery he got antsy again. He walked down the hall to where Amy said she and River had taken the child. He peered inside through the door. He saw his wife slumped out on an armchair and turned to leave her in peace.

"Hello sweetie…" The Doctor turned back around to see his wife staring at him with dopey eyes.

Crouching beside her, he took her hand. She smiled at him.

"Do you remember when I first met you?" She asked him.

"Yes"

"When I was Mels? And I kidnapped you and Mum and Dad and took us back to Berlin?"

"Yes."

"I regenerated, and I was ever so egotistical. I said to you _'I'm all yours sweetie.' _And you said?"

"'_Only River Song gets to call me that.'_"

"I didn't know who that woman was. But what did I do next?"

"You poisoned me."

"I did. And you almost died. But then I found out who River Song was. You are a good man, Doctor. I fell in love with you that day, because when I was sent to murder you, you did not hate me, in fact, you already loved me." _I love you Melody Pond. _

She continued. "And when I was forced to murder you again, Doctor?"

"When you almost destroyed the universe?"

"I did. Because I knew that _I'd suffer, more than anyone else._"

The Doctor shifted his position, then, decided it would be much more comfortable to join River in the chair.

"That night we got married on the top of a pyramid controlled by the Silence. We kissed, and the universe restarted. What was it that you said to me in the astronaut suit as I was forced to lift my arm and shoot the Tesselecta you?"

"_You are forgiven. Always and _completely _forgiven._"

"That's right Doctor. I tried to kill you twice. But you had decided not to hold it against me. You loved me and you forgave me, even though I was to be your murderer. Tell me, has this little girl–" she nodded towards the bed. "—tried to kill you? Has she hurt you in any way? Has she even touched you? No. She came to you with open arms, and I'll be _damned _if you're going to mistreat any child of mine. Not after all I've been through."

River's words stung. The Doctor recoiled.

"Right, so stop being such an arse." She smiled at him. _She's truly gone round the bend_ he thought. Her smiling lips found his for the second time that day. He pulled her close and cuddled her. They slept in that armchair.


	10. Coffee

River woke with a sore neck. The Doctor was still passed out beside her and the child was asleep in the bed. She delicately got up, careful not to rouse her sleeping husband. She stretched. She smiled at the sleeping pair and quietly snuck out.

She eventually found the console room, where Amy and Rory were enjoying coffee.

"Morning Mum. Morning Dad."

"Morning River." They chorused.

"Coffee?" Inquired Rory.

"Please."

He went and returned with a mug inscribed with Gallifreyan. She read it. "Drink… Well, that's… literal."

"Trust the Doctor to be Captain Obvious."

She sipped it; a rich creamy vat of heaven. They didn't have coffee in the Storm Cage and she had grown quite accustomed to the human stimulant. It lit up her insides as only coffee could. She sighed.

"I am _so _stiff right now." She rubbed her neck.

"Did you sleep last night?"

"Yes, the Doctor and I fell asleep in an armchair."

Amy laughed, looking at her skeptically. "No mother… Not yet." Rory smirked, awkwardly.

"So, what do you make of all this? You handled it really well, I'm impressed."

"My mind has gone everywhere in the universe. When the Doctor first told me, I was upset. He's scared of her. And when she was asking for help, I literally had to shove him out of the cell and interrupt what would have probably been a _very _good kiss. But then I was excited. So, I broke out of the cell, set up a date and landed here on Churno. He wouldn't talk about her, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. Well… from what I know, she's nothing like I imagined, but I'll stay. Between you and me, I think I've already fallen in love." She thought about the little girl she had spent the night with and both glowed inside and cringed with the circumstances they had met.

"That was _really _weird. We were talking with the Doctor last night. He was just as stunned as we are. She won't warm up to us at _all._"

"You _do _know what it is, right? She wants someone to love her. The Doctor hasn't been very good at it, and she doesn't know you yet."

"What, so you're an expert now?"

"On trying to warm up to parents that don't know who you are? I wrote the book."

"You have a point."

River sat against the rails of the console. _I should sneak out more often _she thought. Between the coffee, the Doctor, the girl, and her parents, there was no place she would rather be. Except that the Tardis was in desperate need of a tune-up. She wondered if her husband would _ever _learn to take care of his sexy properly –it had been ten regenerations, eleven faces and over twelve hundred years and he _still_ hadn't managed to put the instruction manual to good use.

"I'm guessing that armchair is in the room we took the girl?" Amy asked.

"Yes." River placed her coffee down on the ground beside her and started tinkering with the console. "_Honestly! _How hard is it to keep the rudders at medium?"

"Apparently very hard."

"Thank you Dad."

Rory shrugged. "Did he come in just to cuddle last night? Because he couldn't stop moving." "Was he going through River withdrawal already?"

"I'm not quite sure. What can I say? I've got the man wrapped around my finger."

"Did he say it?"

"A lady doesn't kiss and tell, mother." River smiled.

"Wait, what?" Rory's masculine genes were puzzled, but Amy erupted. "Congratulations!" She enveloped her daughter in a giant hug. "Oh!" exclaimed Rory, catching on. "That's awesome. So proud, Mels. It seems like it was less than a year ago that you could fit in my arm."

"And now _my_ baby's up to my shoulders. Doesn't time fly when you're the parents of a Time Lady."

Fighting off the consciousness that was vying for prevalence, the child kept the image of River in her mind. She relished the compassion the woman had shown her. Her arms warms and her embrace sweet. The little girl was surprised at how naturally she let her façade down. She had tried to do so with the Doctor, but only met a cold response. With the woman she knew as her mother, it had been so much different. Here was a woman who was glad to stay up with her and just watch over her like a parent should. The male and the female humans travelling with the Doctor were compassionate, the child knew, but her prime directive was to gain the love and trust of her family. River had shown a natural, almost overwhelming maternal instinct, whereas the Doctor hadn't shown her an ounce of respect. Grievously, she admitted to herself that one out of two wasn't bad.

When she finally let the consciousness take her, she found, ironically, she was unexpectedly pleased to see the man she desperately wanted to know as Daddy slumped out on the chair across from her. She blinked twice, and noticing he was still there just leaned against the wall and grinned to herself. But where was Dr. River Song? Her chest erupted in panic.

"Mummy…?" She whispered into the quiet.

The child got up, quietly tiptoed past the Doctor and left the room. She looked to her left and to her right. A small voice in the back of her head guided her until she eventually found the Tardis console room. There were the humans… and River. She slunk in quietly until she was only in the shadow of the woman she admired. "Mummy?" River turned around and lit up.

"Hello sweetie."

River's face was warm with compassion. The child smiled.

The Doctor sauntered in, took one look at the party and erupted with glee. "Good morning _Riv_er!" He slid to her side and stole a quick kiss. She grinned at him. He stepped back cockily. He glanced at the mug in her hand. "What's that?" She held it away from him.

"Nothing that you would like."

"What is it?"

"Coffee."

He danced around her, trying to get a look inside the mug, but she stepped back.

"_Coffee._" He annunciated. He glimpsed at the Ponds. "Do I like coffee? Have I even _had _coffee?" Amy pouted and shook her head, unsure.

The Doctor reached for the mug in River's hand; she danced around him again. "_My _coffee."

"Gimme." He reached for it once again.

"You won't like it."

"Try me."

River handed over the mug warily. The Doctor took it, sniffed it, and deciding it was safe, took a giant swig. Mouth full to bursting point, he coughed and spluttered. He spit it back into the mug and desperately wiped the taste off of his tongue. "That is _disgusting!_ Are you trying to _poison _me? Oh, _yuck._" He shoved the mug back into his wife's hands.

"I _told _you so."

"No."

The little girl at River's side giggled. The Doctor spun around and faced her. "Morning… _you._" The child tried to conceal a small smile. He stared her straight in the eye and said with earnest "Don't drink coffee. _Ever. _It's disgusting." He pivoted once again and strode over to the Ponds. He kissed Amy on the forehead and gave Rory a giant hug. "Morning Amy. _Good _morning Rory."

"Warning Doctor, I'm armed with coffee." Goaded Amy. She and River stole a glance and laughed.

"Would you rather have something else Doctor? Tea or cider or hot cocoa, perhaps?"

"Yes. Yes I would." Agreed he, in mock insult. He observed his smirking wife and the child at her side. "_Two _hot cocoas, Rory. Would you _be _so kind?" Rory nodded and returned momentarily with another set of drinks.

The Doctor took his, wafted the scent and took a more cautious sip. The child waited pensively for his approval. After assessing the flavour quality of the beverage and deciding it well, he downed the rest in a matter of seconds. _Now _that's_ a drink worth drinking._ The Ponds pointed out to him that he had a brown milk mustache. He wiped it away with his sleeve. The child, following his example, sipped at the drink and decided it, as he did, delicious. However, with more elegance, did not finish the entire mug in five seconds.

"So, where do you wanna go? What do you wanna see? There are six of us here and all of the universe in all eternity."

"Six?"

"One. Two. Three, four, five –" The Doctor counted each of them and spread his arms wide "—and the _Tardis! _Hello sexy. _That makes six._"

"The asteroid system around the Altair star."

"The Evion Belt. _Brilliant. _Well… what are we waiting for?"

Rory, the perpetual caretaker, inspected his wife's leg. She insisted she was fine. He insisted they let the Tardis make sure. The party agreed. They walked her to the nearby medical room and did an X-ray and a muscle scan. She was slightly bruised, but otherwise, the Tardis gave her a bill of clean health. The Doctor, seizing the opportunity, raced back to the console room and threw the leavers and switches. The sense of impeding adventure coursed throughout everyone's veins once again.

They found a large carbon based asteroid in the Evion Belt. There was so much diamond on the planet that the gem was reduced to almost no value whatsoever. The bulk of the terrestrial body was uninhabitable for the most part, but it had been colonized by an exploratory group of cosmonauts a few centuries prior. The Doctor took special care to make sure he parked the Tardis under one of the colonized domes. River took special care to make sure he parked properly.

The domes were about twenty kilometers wide each and were formed out of Kevlar for efficiency and thin panes of diamond for aesthetics. The diamond amplified the light from Altair, a blue giant, and it radiated off the graphite like ground. There was no atmosphere on the rock, so the insulating domes vented outside for air conditioning. The Doctor read a label at the top of the dome. "M19U7V," its designation, most likely. "I bet you like that, eh Amy? All those pretty jewels." She wore that awed fish face that she had when she had discovered that the Tardis was bigger on the insides. Rory muttered something that sounded like "_materialism_" to the Doctor, but was clearly impressed by the diamonds as well.

The party wandered until River found a local flea market. Her eagle eyes spotted a large necklace with a glimmering garnet stone in the center. She flocked to it, threw it around her neck and modeled for the group. "Please, husband?" The Doctor turned out his pockets, displaying that he had no money to spend on the party.

"Well, there's no point in being at a flea market, than is there?"

The Doctor shook his head, bewildered. Amy signalled to another booth where they were selling equally feminine fashion. She and River stormed off to the colourful display. Soon enough Rory had engaged a local salesman in a discussion about the herbal medicines that he was claiming responsible for curing almost every disease in his family from the flu to leukemia. The place smelled of a various array of scents that ranged from metal to a sort of strange meat to some kind of overpowering floral perfume. Hagglers, businessmen and housewives were being jostled to and fro in the activity and vendors were yelling advertisements for their products everywhere –some even managed to have walking talking holograms to advertise their goods.

"Anything catch your eye?" The Doctor asked the child.

She looked around. "No."

"There _has _to be something –what do you like?" He found and modeled a large hat with a feather on top that looked like it had come from the Victorian Era. "Hats. Do you like hats?" The feather fell into his face. He blew it off. "_No_. No hats." She giggled. "What about bowties? _Bowties are cool._" He spun around, saw no bowties and grew disappointed. He found a vendor that was selling used eye patches. After modelling the eye patch and sparking no interest in the child, he moved on, looking for other various assorted paraphernalia. He knocked over a tray of "Genuine Maple Syrup Barack Obama Models from Earth" and many of the vendors started scolding him. He quickly put his arm around the child and they hurried away.

The child broke from his grasp when she spotted a large telescope inscribed with the name "Hubble". She runs to look into it. A hooded man approached her from the side of the table. "Have you got money for that?" He whispered down her neck with a cold, gruff voice. The child froze and turned to look at him in fright which immediately turned to her indifferent gaze. "No…?" He straightened up. "Then leave the merchandise alone, you worthless little shit!" The Doctor sidestepped and then ran to her side.

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!"

The hooded man uncloaked himself to reveal a face to match his voice. "She yours?" He nodded towards the little girl. River's words the previous night echoed in his mind. He fixed his bowtie. "Yes. Yes she is."

The man smirked. "Are you going to pay for the telescope? Built upon Edwin Hubble's personal schematics. Genuine 21st century gold."

"We're just browsing today."

The salesman rolled his eyes. "You're just as bad as she is. Move it, scum."

The Doctor and the child hurried away. "Sorry." The Doctor apologized.

They turned a corner and saw River, now adorned with the necklace she had eyed previously, bargaining fervently with a shoddy looking saleswoman about what appeared to be a lepton gun. The confused Doctor swept to her side. "What's that?"

"V-19 model of the Ornyn Lepton Gun."

"I mean around your neck, Dr. River Song."

"Oh, just something I picked up."

She turned from the table to face her husband. "One learns plenty about bargaining when one spends their days in the Atraxe Storm Cage." She smirked and he scratched his cheek.

"Where're the Ponds?"

"Not sure. Last I saw, Amy found a table selling 23rd century literature. Don't know where dear old Dad disappeared to." The Doctor looked around. Usually his ginger companion was easy to spot in a crowd and Rory was generally with her. He asked the child who claimed not to know.

"Have you seen a ginger anywhere?" He asked the saleswoman. "She's got a husband with a funny nose…" The woman shook her head, and then leaned in.

"You're not from 'round here are you?" The woman spoke with a thick accent that sounded almost Irish.

"No. Legitimate aliens, right here!"

"I'd watch your backs if I were you. Strange goings on in these here parts. Don't want to get mixed up in the wrong business."

The Doctor leaned in towards her so that they were a handbreadth apart. "What do you mean: _wrong business_?" he whispered, intrigue spiking.

"Let's just say that those diamonds out there aren't all they seem to be." A girl, a few apparent years older than the child between the Time Lord and Lady, and with pin straight brown hair approached her. The two smiled at each other and exchanged a small bag of merchandise for something akin to a USB stick. They exchanged in amicable small talk for a minute than the girl left again. The saleswoman looked shiftily between the Doctor, River and the child. "Find your friends and find them fast." She looked behind her to see the girl and what appeared to be a father or guardian of some sort and then smirked.

"Well, if you aren't here to purchase anything, than you best be moving on."

The Doctor straightened up and turned to face the two curly headed blondes in front of him. _They look too alike._ He thought. They chorused in a query of "Doctor?" and "Daddy?" He stood to attention. "I don't know. Looks like we're going on a Pond hunt." He smiled and set off at a jog. They followed behind him.

"Amy?" He whispered, looking under a table. River took a more practical route. She and the once again silenced child asked around, describing the Ponds with more accuracy to anyone willing to lend an ear. An elderly couple indicated to a booth around a corner. River called to the Doctor and they head towards the stall that was leaning against an old rundown looking building. No one had been manning this stand. It stood out from many of the other's with its elaborate violet table cloth and intricate diamond and silver patterns. The Doctor looked around for someone to help; he found no one. River entered the stand and pushed her way through the purple curtains.

"Doctor? I think you should see this."

The Doctor and the child followed after her. Past the sea of purple and silver was the interior of the building. Old and rundown though it was, there was advanced Earth technology everywhere. The trio surveyed the room. The Doctor called quietly into the vastness again.

With no response, they chose to look down the first hallway. They searched room after derelict, technological room. They eventually came across an elevator, which they cautiously entered. It took them to a floor much like the first, but down the hall was a man clad in arms standing guard. They approached him.

"ID?" He asked.

The Doctor flashed his psychic paper. "They're here with me on my business."

The guard skeptically nodded, whispered into an earpiece, and opened a door to let them pass. In the center of the room was an antique mahogany desk. Sat at this mahogany desk was a man adorned in diamonds from head to toe. Even his eyes, shining blue like Altair, had a diamond cut out pupil. When he lifted his right hand to put it to his face, the party noticed that, it too, was diamond with liquid carbon blood pulsing through it in visible veins.

"How can I be of assistance?"

The Doctor analyzed the man's demeanor. He was clearly dangerous. Perhaps the head of whatever taboo operation they were running. He was intelligent, it radiated off of him, and sly –definitely crafty. The Doctor tried to assess what was the best way to deal with him. There was a plaque on the desk that read _Adamas Argent._ Alias, but if this was what he wanted to be known by, at least the Doctor had a standing ground.

"Good day, Mr. Argent. My in-laws have gone missing. I think you know where they are."

The man grinned. "Do I, now?"

"Yes. Yes you do."

The Doctor could feel River behind him itching to get into the thick of things. The man took sudden notice of her and the child.

"The Mrs." clarified River.

"You're child?" The girl observed the three adults. After a furtive warning glance from the Doctor, she adjusted her disposition to mimic that of River's. Strong, confident and aware.

"Yes."

"Pretty. She's got your eyes." He nodded to the Doctor. "Blue eyes sell well."

The Doctor shifted, ill at ease. "The in-laws. Have you seen them? Tall, human female with ginger hair. Husband, got that Roman centurion look about him."

The Mr. Argent rolled his eyes and lit a synthetic cigar. "You're not one for formalities, are you?" He chuckled, reclined and blew a blue puff of holographic smoke into the air. He put his feet up on the desk in front of him. "Ginger? A looker? Yeah. I've seen them." He took another drag and then blew out once more. "Wandered in the hallway. Mr. Charcoal out there …how shall I say it … _redirected _them. They haven't been harmed in any way shape or form, don't worry." He reassured as he read the concern spreading like wildfire across the Gallifreyan's face. "We just dealt with them as we deal with everyone else who gets lost."


	11. Heroes

"What do you mean, you've _dealt _with them?"

The Doctor stepped forwards and leaned in. Adamas Argent tapped his knuckles against his desk.

"We simply sent them to the wares."

"The wares? Like out in the market?"

"How _dull_ are you?" Mr. Argent's mockery ceased. He was clearly a man that cared nothing for those whose intelligence that didn't match his own. He motioned them out of the room. The Doctor did not move and River stepped forwards adamantly. "We are not moving until we get our family."

The boss pressed his hand to his earpiece. "Mr. Charcoal, kindly remove these loiterers from my office." The guard entered momentarily with the intention of ushering them out. River pulled out one of her many ray guns on him.

"Shoot, I dare you." challenged the silver man. River held her stance.

"I like a woman with nerve." The Doctor glared at him. The boss leaned casually and dangerously against his desk. "Take them to their in-laws." He spun around in the chair and Mr. Charcoal led them away dutifully. River went first, gun still ready to fire. The child followed afterwards, obediently. The Doctor took up the rear, staring at Mr. Adamas, protective testosterone flaring –he did _not _like the way Mr. Adamas had talked about his wife.

Mr. Charcoal led them down the corridor to the elevator, and took them back to the first floor. He took them down a hallway hadn't before explored. He opened a door to a room surrounded by another diamond dome yet again. The double diamond semi spheres around them multiplied the already bright light of Altair. Mr. Charcoal closed the door behind them and left them in the sunlight that was blinding compared to the dark room. The child's relatively younger eyes spotted the ginger hair first.

"Mummy? Do you see the humans?

Rory turned first. When he saw the Doctor, River, and the child, he tapped Amy on the shoulder. She turned. The Doctor's gang ran to intercept the Ponds. The Doctor came to a screeching halt two feet away from them, but River and the child halted gracefully on either side of him.

"Amy, Rory. What happened? How did you get in here? Are you okay?"

Amy regarded him with confusion. "Yeah. We're fine… Why?" Her Scottish accent was very prominent when she said this. River was quick to explain the situation.

"You do know we're in another dome, right?"

"The guard guy said he just needed the key to the outside door."

The Doctor let his confusion slide. He was relatively well adjusted to the intense light of the second dome, but he still had to squint and it was hurting his eyes. He wondered how long Amy and Rory had been in here. They couldn't have been there for longer than an hour. However, it didn't often take long for the Ponds to get in trouble (even if it _did _sometimes take millennia to reverse the trouble).

A sudden small squeak behind them broke the air. A shushing sound came not long afterwards.

"Did anyone else hear that?" asked Rory.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and River, her gun once more, which a startled Rory jumped at the sight of. "There." The child pointed to a cluster of meticulously packed iron boxes in the shadow of the building they had been forced out of. Each one was labeled with a designation of "AE-MI9U7V-CH" with what appeared to be a batch number at the end. When Amy and the Doctor went to check it out, they heard the disturbing sound of muffled shuffling.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" He stepped closer.

"Hello? We're not here to hurt you. We're friends. Promise." Hush. He stood back and sonicked the edges of the first box, much like he had in the Fe'aol cage. The box swung open. Huddled at the back of this box were a group of humanoids. There were male and female. They each stood from 4'8" to 5'2". But what was the most prominent thing about them was that they were diamond. Their entire bodies looked like Mr. Argent's hands. Some of them, the ones that were obviously female were clothed in a crude dirty cloth. One, who was clearly an older male, stepped out, much as George had.

"You won't take us anymore!" The Tardis matrix translated. He put up his stood tall in defense.

"Doctor, what's he on about?" Amy hung her arm over the Doctor's shoulder.

The Doctor shook his head. River took over once more. "What do you mean, _take you? _What's going on here?"

"Don't act like you don't know."

The little silver man approached River, coming up to her shoulder and a little taller than the child. "You just take your money and you leave. You strip us from our home, you crate us like animals, and you sell us off for a couple of million pounds. No longer!" The others in the metal box began to mutter angrily. Their leader had started something.

The Doctor stepped back. "We haven't done anything!" Announced Rory. The leader looked at him with skepticism. The Doctor's party defended his case. River explained how they had come to Mr. Argent and had been forced into the dome, unsure of what was happening. They just found the crates at the side of the buildings and when they opened the boxes they found the silver people.

"Yes, I suppose …that we are on MI9 still." The little iridescent translucent man sought and quickly found that the surroundings were that of the asteroid stated prior.

"See, see?"

"Who _are_ you then?" inquired a female from behind him.

The Doctor straightened his bowtie. "I'm the Doctor. This is my wife, Mrs. Doctor." River stomped hard on his feet. "Okay… not Mrs. Doctor, let's not do that again." She introduced herself properly. "And this is Amy and Rory Pond, the in-laws." The Doctor paused for a split-second, unsure how to introduce the child. _My daughter? A random child in my wibbly wobbly timey wimey machine? She just _happens _to look like my wife and I, by the way. _He decided on an alternative. "This is the kid." It was literal enough. "Family trip. Got lost on the way."

A light flashed from behind, and the party turned to inspect it. They were blinded once again by the sunlight of Altair, and worried –with good reason –about perpetual optical damage. When they turned back around, a laser beam had wrapped itself around the crate with the silver people. They and the box were lifted and carried through an opening in the domes overhead. A ship in the sky picked up the cargo and zoomed away.

"Freeze!" shouted the voice of Mr. Charcoal.

The Doctor, River, the child, Amy, and Rory looked behind them to see Mr. Charcoal and a small crew bolting towards them.

"Run."

The party bolted towards the edge of the first hemisphere, sonic screwdriver and squareness gun at the ready. River got to it first; they jumped through the square hole and ran through, coming to a more derelict part of the city. Rory took the lead, turning them back towards the flea market, where they were able to lose their predators in the chaos.

"Right, so, what's next?" A group of preadolescent boys sped past on a series of hover-boards, nearly knocking Rory over.

"We're going after them." His wife answered him.

Into the Tardis and onto an alien ship. So this was life with the Doctor. Always on the run, all this excitement. It was so different than what she had previously known. It got her hearts pumping –both of them. She remembered seeing somewhere in the language she could never forget: a passage written about a menacing salesman and a race away from the city. She bit her lip in an attempt to hide emotion that was fighting its way to the surface.

The ship was relatively unremarkable, it resembled the inside of the building as far as architecture went, but it was clearly a trader's ship with all of the alien technology and décor. She followed her parents and the humans.

"It's a dead end." Announced the man named Rory. The child stepped forwards. There was a wall with a series of crystals inscribed with symbols. She found the pattern almost immediately. It was the periodic table of the elements, out of order. She took Rory's stead and began to rearrange the crystals. _Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon. _It was arranged by atomic number, except in the hexadecimal base system. When a door opened in front of them, the group cheered her on. It made her smile to have the Doctor congratulate her, even if he did dissect what thoughts went through her mind as she did it.

The doorway revealed a small passageway that gave way to an intersection. "Left." Said the Doctor as Rory simultaneously spoke "right." They decided to settle it by a means they called _rock, paper, scissors. _The Time Lord won. At the end of the curved hallway were three guards, looking much like Mr. Argent, but with other precious gems, such as garnet and amethyst, imbedded into their bodies as well.

"Okay, Rory wins." They quietly snuck back to the right of the corridor. More guards. "Somehow I don't think you were supposed to crack that code" the Doctor spoke to the girl. "Anyone else feel like being clever?"

"I've got it. Cover me, Doctor." Ordered Amy, putting her hair into a bun. "Hi," Announced Amy, stepping up to the gem blockade. They drew their weapons. "Avril Argent. I'm here on special family business." The guards stood resolute, guns pointed at her heads.

"Well, are you just going to stand there? Don't point your guns at me, would you like me to file a complaint to my brother?"

"You're not supposed to be here, ma'am. Mr. Argent doesn't have any family."

"Would you like to verify that? I'm sure if you were to check your records, you'd see that Adamas' file includes a certain Avril Argent."

"We're quite positive that he has no family."

Amy folded her arms. "I'm getting impatient. Maybe I'll just tell him to take his business elsewhere." She sighed and turned away.

"Wait, ma'am. Let me check." The guard retrieved a small tablet from the guard behind him. He worked on it, looked up at Amy, tapped some more and looked up at Amy. He coughed. "My apologies, Ms. Argent. You can enter." _Clever, _thought the child.

"About time." Amy beckoned to the child, River, the man named Rory, and the Doctor. They obeyed with confidence; the child thought it wise to mimic their disposition. The guard stood perplexed. "Henchmen…" Amy dictated with sarcasm. He made an obvious attempt to hide his surprise. It almost made the child laugh, his attempt at feigning emotion or lack thereof was almost pitiful in comparison with her own –however, so to not be vain, she suppressed her laugh.

Past the guards was a cylindrical door of sorts which, when they entered, spun slowly to obstruct outside view and continued to turn to display a room lined with crates like in the double diamond-Kevlar hemispheres. About fifty diamond people wandered to and fro in an automaton-like state. They didn't take notice of their new comrades. The Doctor frowned and hung his head in anger and sadness. "You can't just –" He turned to Amy next to him. "—this is cruelty… This is imprisoning _living creatures _to satisfy his lust for money, for power. He can't just do this."

The child hurt too, not as much to see the diamond people so abused, but to see the Doctor hurting. It didn't compute, it wasn't logical. He was supposed to be the eternal man. He was supposed to be powerful. From all she knew of power, one was not supposed to be vulnerable. But this was her idol standing in front of her on the verge of emotional implosion. It hurt, so she decided she needed to do something about it.

"Doctor?" She needed his respect then, not his adoration.

He turned to look at her.

"What can I do?"

"You can help us find out how this operation runs and we're going to bring it crumbling down."

Adamas reclined at his desk, reviewing the last month's monetary increase when Mr. Charcoal entered, looking determinedly military. "…_What's_ wrong, Chronar?" He had a feeling he did not want this news. He dragged heavily on his cigar and blew out a cavalier puff of holographic blue smoke.

"The family has left the dome?"

Adamas snubbed the cigar on his desk, leaving no stain because it was only synthetic. He rolled his eyes. He did not have time for this. "And how, pray tell, did they manage this?"

"They escaped with the redhead and her husband. The one with the curly hair had a squareness gun. Cut a hole right through the diamond."

"And where are they now?"

"That's the thing sir, we don't know. They aren't in M19U7V, in fact, it seems they've left the asteroid."

A string of curse words ran through the diamond man's head.

"I'm sorry sir, we did our best."

"Yes, I bet you did." He rubbed his temple. He pulled out a knife from out of his desk, calculatingly displaying its lustrous and lethal qualities. Mr. Charcoal swallowed. "You know, Chronar, this knife is an heirloom that dates back to my great-great-grandfather. It would be a shame to spoil such a perfectly preserved blade with the blood of one of my finest henchmen." The guard stepped back.

"Sir –"

A ringing in Mr. Argent's ear jolted him. He reached his hand up to the telecom, irritated. "What now!?"

_Sir? _A voice inquired.

"Here."

_A group of people have entered the Phalos, their leader claiming to be Avril Argent, your sister. They're in one of the diamond compartments. _

"Of course they are." He severed the telecom link. "Chronar, we'll settle this later." He stood, exited the room and turned into the elevator. After a voice command, a retinal scan and a flash of light, he reintegrated aboard the Phalos. He smiled, realizing that it was about time they had some excitement.

_I know you're on board the Phalos Doctor. You and your family. You've seen my diamond people and your righteous anger has provoked you to board my ship for their vengeance. Frankly, business _has _been a little slow lately, so, for the amusement of myself and my crew, I've decided to higher the stakes. We have just entered hyperspace and are currently travelling at five parsecs a minute. Our next stop is an accomplice's domain, where he and another will join the race with the garnet people and those made of opal. Since such an abundance of cargo causes value to decrease beyond profitable acceptance, we will begin to kill off one gem person every ten minutes. Our final stop is the trading post, where my liaisons and I will no longer be held responsible for our actions. You have two hours, Doctor –starting now. _

Mr. Argent's voice rang out over an intercom, drenching with it dread deep in the child's heart. _–oh, and Doctor? My ship has been booby trapped. At any arbitrary point so deemed by the Phalos' mainframe, you and all with you will be transported to any other arbitrary point so designated. We wish you the best of luck. Mr. Argent: out._

That set gears in motion. The previously pitiful Doctor transformed instantaneously into a battery of rage and drive. His stance changed and he stood up straight with a fire in his eyes. It made River smile like a madwoman; Amy took her husband's hand in her own. "We in business now?" she asked. Rory lit up. The child ginned inwardly. This was much better. She would enjoy this game as much as her father would.

The Doctor straightened his bowtie. "What are we waiting for?" He set off in a furious pace, the child right at his rear. He smiled at her. "Games are cool." She grinned back.

"Where to madman?" River asked.

"To capture a _very _bad man, Doctor Song."

They charged forwards in the ship. It seemed Mr. Argent had fixed the mainframe of the ship so that the Doctor could not locate where they were in relation to him. The sonic screwdriver wasn't working, but that was fine. It was a gigantic ship, but the child had begun to create a mind map. According to her calculations, they had covered seven kilometers of Phalos in forty-five minutes. It was almost too easy. They had stumbled across minute clusters of guards, who, by no means where believing the redhead's alias of Avril Argent, but due to much coaxing on River's part and an obscene amount of lunacy on the Doctor's, were amused enough to give passage.

The Doctor spun around a corner where a group of henchmen, standing dutifully on guard in front of a large industrial door.

"My turn, Doctor, Riv." The man named Rory stepped forwards, announcing himself to the sentry. "Rory Williams, sure you've heard of me. Centurion, done that whole dying and coming back to life thing many times over. I invented the broomstick, did you know that? Anyways, big buy, you should let us through."

The first jewel man made a crude comment that the child didn't quite understand, laughed and ribbed the other two behind him. Rory laughed along with them, playing along. "Very funny,_ ha ha. _Can we pass now?"

The guards laughed again. "No…?" The ringleader sarcastically remarked. "No… I think we'd rather run you through with diamond daggers."

Rory shifted to his other foot, jokingly. "You know, my jousting skills are a little rusty. I'm lacking about a hundred or so years of training. If you'll give me a minute or two though, I'm sure I can get the grip of it once again."

"No, you see… you don't get a sword. This is what I like about this game. We chase after you and your little intrusive family with little intrusive pointy blades." Rory's mouth widened in a large _O. _"Oh, I get it now, because I thought that I was going to fight _with you_. I _think _I understand now."

"Rory!" was the cry of his concerned wife.

"Got it!" He pivoted on his toes. "Commencing running, _now!_" He sped past as the sentinel ensemble jumped to a run. Amy, the child, River, and the Doctor sprinted after Rory, with the guards hot on their heels.

They bolted around a corner. Rory, Amy, the child, River, the Doctor, and finally the guards. Or so they thought. The child slammed into Amy who had slammed into Rory who had face planted into a lime green wall that had not been there a second ago. "_Owww_." Moaned Rory. "My nose. I'm a nurse. A nose is _not _supposed to hit a wall at that velocity. _Owww._"

"Now you know how I feel." The Doctor scowled at River who was, at the moment, looking in the other direction.

"We transported. The little Dalek transported us." Their predators were nowhere in sight, but no one –not the Doctor, nor the child –knew where they were besides somewhere on a ship in the midst of hyperspace. The child grimaced, looking over at the Doctor who was wearing a more than irritated look on his Gallifreyan face.

What came next did not help that look. The ship came to a jerking halt as it, presumably, dropped out of hyperspace. The telecom crackled once more and Adamas Argent's voice spread over like a dull knife in stale bread. _First stop Doctor. How are things going? You obviously haven't found me yet, so I'm assuming not so well. Keep trying; I'm still on the ship. You and your family may yet satisfy your righteous anger…_

_ We've stopped at the mid-way point, where my partners Mr. Akai and Ms. Michezo will be joining our voyage to the trading post. They are aware of our little deal, and we have come to the consensus that they will act in this deal as well, however, they have more important things to do. For this, how shall we call it … _game…_ they will only kill on my order. But we don't want our profit to drop too low, so look hard and stop me soon. Best of luck, Mr. Argent._

A gunshot rang at the end of the transmission and faded out.


	12. Risk

**AN: Sorry about the tremendous wait, summer and all. My internet connection has been hell and there are no USB sticks to be found. Please R&R. Enjoy! Next chapter within a week I hope.**

* * *

><p>There was the sound of pressure release and than a shuddering propulsion as the Phalos re-entered hyperspace. It rocked the party backwards, so that everyone toppled on the Doctor instead of Rory. Painful though it was, when they had sorted themselves out again, the Doctor and the child shared a joyful glance.<p>

"We're at the front of the ship."

"How do you know?" was Amy's question. As the Doctor suspected, River explained with pride.

"To propel a ship forwards, the hyperdrive engines are always fitted to the back of the ship. When these engines react, they throw the ship forwards, sending all of its contents in the opposite direction. Since we propelled backwards we're facing the same direction as the ship is."

"And how do you know that we're not just _facing_ the front of the ship?"

The Doctor knocked on the wall. "Because, if we were in the middle of the ship, this noise would have echoed more. The sound of the knock was lost to both the exterior wall and the vacuum of what's outside this ship." He stopped to observe Rory and Amy's expression. "Well, that and I sonicked it."

"Oh, yeah. You sonicked it. So… what does that mean? Where are we going now?"

"It means –_Amelia Pond –_that we need only get to the floor that Mr. Argent is on. He's important, he'll be near the front"

"Elevator?" She asked, folding her arms and shifting her weight to her other foot.

"Precisely."

The intercom system crackled again, they heard the shuffle of feet and a loud gunshot once again rang throughout the ship. The Doctor cringed.

Searching for the fabled elevator they went. The passing time gnawed at the Doctor as he turned corner after corner looking for this elevator, conscious to never wander too far from the starboard section of the Phalos. He couldn't help worrying about the hundreds of sentient lives unknowingly depending on him to save them from their own trafficking. A lot of lives seemed to depend on him. He was the Doctor, it came with the territory, but he was acutely aware that so many depended on his actions. The old step on a bug and change the future forever scenario. _Crackle. Shuffle. Bang. Silence. Crackle. _He prayed that he could find that elevator soon. Game or not, these people needed him.

Goodness, River was pretty. She seemed to get more beautiful every time he saw her. In the heat of the chase, he stole her gaze. Those hazel eyes. He wasn't deceived when he admitted that he loved those hazel eyes. They were enraptured in their secret moment above that little girl's head. She blew him a kiss. He caught it and stored it in his hearts.

With only fifty minutes left, there had been four more gunshots since the initial one, and the Doctor was beginning to get twitchy. It must have shown, for River had cooed at him "Calm down my love, we've made it through worse than this before."

He nodded. Amy picked up on his nerves as well. She spun to the child. "Got any idea where this elevator thing might be?" The child looked at her, appeared to contemplate, and then pulled out a book from underneath the blue sweater Amy had let her borrow. It was a dark red diary. She opened it quickly, away from the Doctor and River, flipped, read, quickly shut, and shoved back into her sweater. "Left" She pointed. They obeyed her directions which eventually led to a wall with a crystal symbol system similar to the one with the periodic table, except this was a different puzzle.

"Where'd you get that?" The Doctor stepped in to her, dangerously close. He did not like the fact that she had just read from his future; from a diary, no less.

"Spoilers." She responded. The Doctor glared, but River took him by the arm and gently redirected his attention to the puzzle at hand.

Neither the child, nor the Doctor could solve this one, it appeared. So Amy stepped in.

"What's it say, Doctor?"

"…Then, methought, the air grew denser… perfumed by an unseen…censer…" He ran his hand through his hair.

"—Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor!"

He looked at her inquisitorially. "Type it in," she directed. He did so by rearranging the crystals and the wall seemed to dissolve in front of their eyes to reveal an elevator much like he, River and the child had encountered down on MI9. Amy and Rory high-fived behind him.

"Edgar Allan Poe's: The Raven. I _do _read in my spare time, you know." said she.

"Brilliant Pond; always so very clever."

They entered the elevator and travelled up to one of the middle floors. The seventh out of eighteen floors was not much more spectacular than the last few they had been on, but it bore a slight bit more semblance of luxury. Follow the luxury; that was River's Sherlock like deductive reasoning. The luxury continued to manifest around what could be assumed as a central point and the party began to get more and more worried about the elusive passing time. The quality of the ship seemed to get progressively better or at least cleaner for the most part as they followed and made assumptions about where next to go. Eventually, to their delight, they witnessed a Degas hung on the wall. The Doctor preferred the John Busema that followed fifty feet later–that was until it warranted a comment from River about handsome men in spandex. She smiled over the Doctor's shoulder at Amy.

Overhead, the Doctor once again heard the voice of Adamas Argent. _Doctor, I'm getting _bored. _You're at the thirty minute mark, and my overall profit has increased by 2 percent, the value is determined by the quantity. So, without further ado… _another gun shot rang. _I hope you're enjoying yourself, Doctor, because our game is almost done. _

With ten minutes remaining, the group was beside themselves with anxiety. The Doctor knew they were close, so close that he could almost taste it. He estimated that there were at most approximately three corridors between themselves and the maniacal Adamas Argent, and like every proper genius, it was that last piece of the puzzle that was driving him crazy.

"Which one?" He asked, as they turned a bend and observed a set of doors parallel to each other, but each of significant importance.

"Left," offered Rory. The Doctor sonicked the left door open. _Bad decision. _"Halt, trespasser!" bellowed the diamond plated guardsman filling the doorway. "You are intruding on my quarters. For such actions, you will be penalized. Rory threw a look of pure exasperation his wife's way, as if to say '_really?_'

"Doctor, we don't have time for this, now." Amy denoted.

"I know,"

The Man advanced and cocked a lepton gun very similar to the one River had found on the asteroid. "Shall I destroy you with this gun, or shall we fight with honour?"

"Well… seeing as I'd prefer not to die right now, I think we'll just turn around and leave." Retorted Rory.

"That is not an option." The semi-transparent figure in all of his armour was as much of a menace as he was an inconvenience. The child stepped forwards, giving the Doctor a small panic attack, and River, he assumed, a sizeable heart attack. "No –" he pulled the girl back to his side. "I'm all for nobility, but I'd prefer _not _to make a martyr out of you."The Sontaran looked around impatiently. "Well, someone fight me, because I'm getting _bored." _River drew her gun.

"I've got a deflector shield, Madame; it would be wiser not to shoot."

"Doctor…" Whined Amy.

"I _know, _Pond." There were six minutes left before they reached the trading post, according to Mr. Argent's calculation. There were six minutes to find him and stop him. The man was just wasting their time. If only they could land a well aimed blow to the back of his neck. He ran his hand through his hair, thinking. Amy was breathing down his neck, just as antsy as himself. Rory glanced at the Doctor and then at his wife.

"Catch me if you can!" he chided, up starting and bolting down the hallway. The surprised simple man stood there for a split second, but when he realized that Rory was going to play with him, he cheerfully chased after, shouting banter to Rory about how his running style resembled that of a derelict Orearan's.

The remaining group took full advantage, spinning around to the other door and opening … _a broom closet. _Undeterred, they turned back from whence they came and followed the trail of luxury left behind for the thieving scoundrel. In the style of a true genius' ship, the hallways began to branch more often and at stranger angles. At clearly the heart of the luxury, the Doctor, Amy, River, and the child were left opening every door they could find. They were thankful that they had found no more Sontarans; however, there also appeared to be no Mr. Argent either. Just to infuriate them, so it seemed, the man had initiated a countdown. "T-minus 59, 58, 57, 56, 55…" rung over the PA system.

At "T-minus 34" the Doctor body checked himself into another cookie-cutter door that swung wide to a brightly lit room. "Amy," he called. She, River and the child flocked to his side. Together they entered. Sat at a mahogany desk with an electronic cigar, was the one and only Adamas Argent, hands folded atop and an expectant air radiating from his every pore.

"Doctor," said he. "I expected I'd be seeing you soon enough. I had almost thought you wouldn't have made it; that would have been a pity." He reached up to his ear and ordered into his telecom that the countdown be turned off. He then leaned back calculatingly. "So, the race is done, but here we are. How, my dearest Doctor, are you going to stop me?"

The Doctor fixed his bowtie. "It's all in my head."

"I think you're bluffing. I think you came all this way with not a single idea about how to save your precious jewel people." Mr. Argent turned to River. "You _could _shoot me with that lovely squareness gun, but I think you know that it will only prove futile." The Doctor stood still, not letting his bluff show. His wife was strong, she could take this man. The thing was that he was afraid she would. He still couldn't justify taking a human life, even if that human life was trafficking thousands of others. "She's clever, this one…" the diamond thief commented about the child. "I saw her work her way past the hexadecimal periodic table puzzle. No one has guessed that before. Definitely your child. But, I don't think she's got a one-up on me quite yet. And you," he gazed towards Amy, looking her up and down. "Well done on the Poe… but good luck… you're going to need it."

"You're wrong," countered the Doctor. "Notice we're missing someone?"

"Quite," Mr. Argent tapped his fingers against the desk and took a drag of the electronic cigar. He watched the Doctor expectantly, blew out and commented. "…con_tin_ue?"

"He's currently helping your diamond people off the ship. Remember the mate you had in his own quarters on this ship? He's got a homing device on him. Rory sent word to others. We've got friends of our own on the way. They're bringing their ship with a whole _armada_ of different races. We _will _liberate these people, Adamas. And we will free the opal people, the garnet people, and all of the other people you and your company have captured for personal profit."

"You're bluffing. And even if you were not, how would you plan to execute such an elaborate plan? My ship is immense and can escape any known human vessel in hyperspace; you and you're human friend are unarmed."

"Wrong again. _I've _got a screwdriver."

Mr. Argent scoffed. "Pardon me, but you have a _what?_" The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and smiled, feeling River smiling gleefully beside him. At the press of a button and the flick of the wrist, the Doctor sonicked a frequency on which all the technology surrounding Mr. Argent exploded in a series of sparks. The jewel thief jumped slightly.

"Good. So, unless you're planning on being annihilated in front of your peers by a series of your opponent's men, I'd step down and let these people free."

Mr. Adamas put his cigar down, pushed away from his desk and stood up. He walked around the side of the desk and stood in front of the Doctor. He had about two inches on the Doctor. It would have been an intimidating stance had the Doctor not been so self assured. "I invited you to play a game with me, not to threaten myself, my crew and destroy my equipment. So, if you've got any civility in you, you will cease. Or I will have you thrown in the brig, without your screwdriver, squareness gun, or any other such paraphernalia you may possess. Now, if you will excuse me, we have arrived at the trading post and I have business to conduct."

Amy broke their triangle formation and came to stand vehemently beside her Time Lord. "No. You said you wanted to play a game, so let's play." The jewel thief surveyed her up and down. Intrigued by either her proposal or feminine form (the Doctor couldn't tell), he asked her to continue.

"It's a card game. It's like poker, but not quite. For every ten points, one party has to give the other something of significant value or perform an action of value." She folded her arms. "The rules are quite simple: One card in every thirteen is lethal. This random card is chosen by rolling two dice with the values ace through king and the other die with all of the suits. A mediator will say if the bad card has been played, and if it has, the person who played it will lose all of the points they have gained. One in every fifty-two cards is worth two hundred fifty points. This card is also chosen by a set of dice. To gain five points, you need to have a set of four cards with a value of one to nine in your hands that would equal ten in using the four operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and addition. If you can't play and have to discard and pick up a card, it counts as a move. Shall we play?"

Adamas leaned in close to her and sensing Amy's hand readying to slap him, backed off. He smiled. "It sounds splendid. Maybe I'll ask Mr. Akai and Ms. Michezo to join us, if your family care to join us."

River nodded. "Of course we do. Let's play a game."

"Marvelous!" The business man clapped, ordered something to a guard over the telecom and in a split second Rory was transported onto the deck.

"—where you came from?" Was the interrupted sentence he was in the middle of uttering to what the party would assume was a diamond person. He was crouched on his knees, hand out as if he was placing his hand on the shoulder of a child even smaller than their own little mystery. "Uhmmm, hi…" he offered.

"Hello Rory. We're playing a game, now." explained the Doctor.

"Ah… what game?"

"Tens."

He pulled in beside the child. "You playing?" She looked from River to the Doctor then nodded. Mr. Argent made a remark about how he loved parties and then called in a guard. He gave the man an order and two minutes later a man and woman stepped in with an air of extreme superiority.

"Mr. Akai, Ms. Michezo, meet the Doctor, his wife, their child, Amy and Rory –the trouble makers who want to play cards."

Mr. Akai stood approximately four inches taller than Mr. Argent. Like Adamas, he had gems running all throughout his body. The most major difference was that he was garnet. Ms. Michezo was a black woman with long hair weaved through with opal extensions. Like her two male business partners, the gem was laced throughout her body. One of Mr. Akai's guards had brought a pack of cards. The child was asked to procure the strange dice from a replicator in the adjacent room.

When she returned, Mr. Argent had them all transported to a room with a billiard table and set up a series of chairs. All sat around the table, he started to shuffle and deal.

"We need a mediator," pointed out Mr. Akai.

"You." Ms. Michezo pointed to the child. "You will judge fairly or you will be killed. Do I make myself clear?" The child nodded and Ms. Michezo's henchman stepped up, placing a gun to the child's temple. The Doctor's hearts spasmed as he looked from the child to River. The little girl nodded, slightly easing the Doctor's anxiety.

All seated, Adamas Argent began to shuffle. At his nod, the child shook the four times dice, looked nodded back to him. He dealt each individual four cards. When he had dealt to the entire table, the Doctor looked at his cards. He had an ace of spades, three of clubs, eight of clubs, and jack of diamonds. He couldn't play. As per the left of the dealer rule, Mr. Akai went. He placed down a seven of diamonds, than a four of hearts, an eight of spades, and a two of hearts. "Seven multiplied by four is twenty-eight. Subtract eight is twenty, divide by two is ten." The child marked him down for five points. Ms. Michezo was next. She surveyed the table and then looked at her cards. She discarded one of her cards face-down and picked up another card from the face-down pick up pile.

Rory was next. He looked at his card, played a nine of spades, a three of hearts, a two of clubs and a six of diamonds. "Nine plus six is fifteen. Fifteen minus two is thirteen. Thirteen minus three is ten." The child looked at the dice and put him down for five points. Amy couldn't play. The Doctor couldn't play. River played a nine of diamonds, an ace of clubs, a four of diamonds, and a five of hearts. "Five times four is twenty. Subtract one is nineteen. Subtract nine is ten." The child went to mark her down, but instead said "Sorry, four of diamonds is lethal," and didn't mark River down for any points. She rolled the dice again and it was Mr. Argent's turn. He played a seven of hearts, a six of diamonds, a five of clubs and a two of spades. The child called the lethal card on him and he received no points.

They continued like this for another half round before Amy played a six of hearts, three of diamonds, eight of hearts, and seven of spades. "Six plus three is nine. Nine plus eight is seventeen. Seventeen subtract seven is ten." The child had announced that both a lethal card and the bonus card were played, but since the bonus card was played later, the bonus was collected.

Mr. Akai jumped up. "I don't believe you!" He shouted indignantly. The guard's gun went back towards the child's head and River jumped up with her gun to the guard. The child passed her notes about the four lethal cards and the one bonus card over to the crimson boss. Accepting, but not satiated, he reluctantly sat back down. Amy collected all of the cards, shuffled and re-dealt. The little girl stayed the mediator, despite Mr. Akai's grumbling, shook the dice once more, and reset the five special cards.

Amy, with two hundred and fifty points asked for one hundred of the jewel people to be liberated. Mr. Argent and Mr. Akai with ten points bargained four jewel people back to them, as they established the rule that every ten points was worth four jewel people. The scores and earnings were kept by a blue holographic screen that newly appeared in the middle of the table. In another eight turns, Ms. Michezo won the jackpot, Rory, the Doctor and Mr. Argent had lost all of their points.

In order for the Doctor and his companions to win all of the jewel people or the jewel thieves to keep their merchandise and take from the Doctor's crew, each side needed seven thousand fifty points. At the end of the half hour, the points were four thousand two hundred fifty to two thousand seven hundred fifty to the good guys. Ms. Michezo was beginning to get anxious. "This is a ridiculous game, Adamas. I have business to attend to in this quadrant. I ought to take my ship and leave."

"I concur." Mr. Akai stood up, turned around and flipped his crimson coat behind him. "I fold."

The Doctor, indignant, slapped his cards against the table. "This is the freedom of living creatures we are bartering for, here. You are not at _liberty _to just stand up and _leave!_" Mr. Akai stared condescending daggers his way.

"Please, Iaru, Awara, sit down. Indulge me, please, play the game with me; you're both geniuses and I know you love taking risks. Continue to play with us, please." Ms. Michezo glared around the table, and after a stare down with Mr. Argent, she relaxed her grip on the chair she was about to use to push herself up. Mr. Akai came and sat down twenty seconds later. "We'll play your stupid game, but the only thing we're indulging is your love for competition."

"But Adamas, if Iaru and I are to continue playing," Ms. Michezo looked from Mr. Argent to Rory to the child, "we need to higher the stakes. There is only to be one lethal card in the deck, so the balance doesn't tip so often. Each group of ten warrants fifty points instead of five. The jackpot will be worth one thousand points. And if we win, we sell you." She pointed to River, to the Doctor, to Amy, to Rory, to the child.

Adamas nodded, "I can deal with that. You are _going_ to deal with that, capiche?" He stared each of the Doctor's group with such conviction that the Doctor was forced to nod. The child recollected the cards, earning a condescending scoff from Mr. Akai and a nose upturned in disgust from Ms. Michezo. She shuffled, doing the toss, the bridge, and some other alien form of shuffling. Without looking, she re-dealt the cards face down, four to each person. She tossed the set of dice once and memorized the lethal card. She rolled the dice once more for the jackpot.

River played. She placed down a three of clubs, five of diamonds, four of spades and two of spades. "Three and five make eight. Eight and four makes twelve. Twelve minus two is eight." The child marked her down and the scoreboard donned her fifty points. Mr. Argent played, gaining himself fifty points. Mr. Akai couldn't play. Ms. Michezo played the jackpot driving their points one thousand points up. Rory played and won fifty points. Come Amy's turn to play, she stared at her cards, rearranged them thrice, and after two minutes she passed. The Doctor looked at his cards. He could play: _the five of hearts by the_ _two of diamonds made ten. Ten plus ace of clubs is eleven, subtract ace of hearts is ten. _But more than that, the deck had been played almost through to the end. Since the jackpot had already been called, one of the cards he held in his hand had to be the lethal card. The risks were too high to lose all of his points now that they were so easily obtained and so rarely lost. To lose his points would tip the balance of power dramatically. He may have been one in four against three, but his team was not nearly as strong as their opponents; they and the lives aboard the Phalos and other two ships depended on him. He looked down to survey his cards once more, and then looked up to see Mr. Argent staring expectantly and glibly from across him. He didn't want to lie; the gun pointed at the little girl was assurance of that, but he also couldn't afford to tell the truth.

"I'm stuck." He announced. In fairness, he was stuck on which decision would prove less detrimental.

"Surely, with your clever brain you can make something of those numbers" goaded Mr. Akai. Mr. Argent leaned back, waiting to watch the scene unfurl.

The Doctor analyzed the different expressions around the room. "If I must play, I will lose all of my points –_one _of the cards I hold in my hand will kill. But if I can't play, my turn is skipped and no points are either gained or lost."

"But you can play, Doctor. I can read it on you. The numbers, they float in your head and coalesce like two hydrogen molecules. The only way you couldn't play is if you have a king, queen or a jack. I now hold a jack of clubs in my hands from when I last picked up, Ms. Michezo couldn't play and she has her way with numbers; she must have a royal card, but with the vehemence that she denied her turn, she most likely had two, or three even –but three isn't likely. The one with the red hair, she doesn't have a way with numbers, but she doesn't have a royal card. It took her too long to decide. That leaves nine left. Initially, I would have assumed you didn't have a king, queen or jack. You stared at your cards too long, but you're cleverer than that. Much too clever –this is your, what is it, _poker face?_ But I see, that last look you stole –yes that one there –to that child of yours betrays it. You can play, but you know that you must have the lethal card. Since it hasn't been otherwise stated, you must play, Doctor. But I like you; I'll make you a bet. You will choose one of the cards in your hand and place it face up on the table away from the other cards. This is the card that you expect to be lethal. If you guess right, you your _team_ will win all of my points. If you guess wrong, you and a player on your team will both _lose _all of your points. It's your decision. Play all four cards and lose all of your points, or half of your profit on one card. I'm waiting." Adamas lit a cigar and puffed confidently.

River reached across the child to squeeze the Doctor's hand. He was going to risk it. He ran his hand along his hand and stopped at the two of diamonds. He began to lift it to place on the table, but stopped; it felt wrong. He closed his eyes, secretly willing the child to pick up on his telepathic brainwaves, but she, for all of her intellect, was oblivious. He looked at the five of hearts. Five was an even number, too easy. He decided on the ace of clubs. Slowly and calculatingly he placed it on the table, only revealing its face when he removed its hand. The Time Lord swallowed and looked over to the miniature River. She looked back at him, and a look of genuine remorse spread across her face before it vanished to the ever present deadness.

"Amy; I choose Amy…" spoke the Doctor, defeated. He watched the scoreboard as his and her points disappeared. The statistics now stood three thousand eight hundred to nine hundred the jewel thieves. The Doctor sighed. River played, earned them fifty points. Mr. Argent couldn't go. Mr. Akai earned fifty points. The child collected the cards, reshuffled, re-rolled the dice, and re-dealt. The pattern continued like this until it seemed the teams were finally balanced. Then Ms. Michezo hit below the belt.

"One of these cards is lethal." She looked around and stared daggers at everyone. She then placed the nine of spades. "It's this one." The child blinked and nodded. She looked at the scoreboard, but instead of choosing the person on his team with the least amount of points, he went for the one with the most points. River Song. "Now, one of these cards is also the jackpot; we've went through the entire deck without a lethal card and a jackpot card. I assume I can't play two cards at the same time, now that I guessed my murder weapon, but the gods are on my side. The jackpot was lethal. Now, I want my thousand points."

"Rory, she can't do that. Doctor!" Amy looked desperately to and fro. Rory, about to validate her statement stopped when Mr. Akai nodded to the guard at the child's head. River cried out, the guard cocked his gun, Mr. Akai nodded again –and Rory launched himself in the way, successfully knocking her assailant over. But the weapon had been fired.

Amy watched in absolute horror as the child and Rory fell to the ground. _Roooooryyyyy! _She remembered hearing screaming coming from her mouth but she could not recall the physical action of opening her mouth and letting forth the scream. She got down on her hands and knees. Instantly she was by his side. _Rory? Rory! Rory, don't be dead. Rory! _She sat there, desperately turning clutching her husband's shirt. Her insides shattered, she didn't remember crying, but the tears seemed to fall from her face regardless of what she could do.

She remembered then, seeing, if not feeling the hands of her daughter saying _Mother, he's alright. He'll live. _There was such a conviction in those words, but it was then she heard the second scream. Not from her. The ringing in her ears not quite cleared, she remembered coming to terms with the fact that Rory was okay, but Melody was in panicking about the small body next to her.

The child had maintained a large blast from whatever sort of alien gun the guard had carried on her side. It didn't look fatal, but in the eyes of the new mother, it would. _Melody? _She laid her hand upon her daughter's shoulder blade. The yellow flames had already started to emanate from the Time Lady's hands. She put the blazing medicine to the little girl's waist. She saw a light flash and assumed that the bosses must have left. She saw the Doctor at one point had slid down to take her place. He pulled River away from the child, told her _stop it, River! You're wasting your regeneration energy! _She fought him, but when he managed to pull her off, Amy remembered seeing the same flame coming from the child's side. River's crying ceased when she saw the little girl was regenerating.

Then the noise started once again. At the sound of yet another gunshot the ringing started again. _Alright you lot. You'll be joining the gems. Fetch a pretty penny, you will. _Footsteps seemed to flood the room along with a myriad of guards. A pair of military-grade space boots stepped around their group. _Oi! _Barked the voice to her left. _Time Lords! The bosses will be rich! We won't have to live off the gems ever again! Come with us! _The guards flocked their group, prying off the Doctor first, than herself, then River, Rory, and finally the child.

_Don`t touch her! _cried River. _Put your gun away, stupid woman! _The sonic screwdriver went off: _don`t call my wife stupid! _ Another gunshot went off. _That is on stun. Don`t make me put it to kill. Now move._


End file.
